A Japanese Trace in Bakhytzhan Kanapyanov’s Topographical Poetry

Introduction. The influence of the Russian poetic tradition on works of Bakhytzhan Kanapyanov is a well-known fact. However, his poetry, particularly topographical lyrics, has also been influenced by Japanese culture and literature. Goals. The article attempts an insight into landscape lyrics of the Kazakh poet from how it reflects the Japanese philosophy of landscape, most fully expressed in the genres of haiku and tanka. Results. Using the structural-semiotic method, the work reveals that B. Kanapyanov’s landscape poetry is based on the Japanese principle — ‘the beauty of the moment’ which demonstrates the eternity of nature. Just like the Japanese masters of haiku and tanka, B. Kanapyanov depicts nature in small, insignificant details through human sensations and perceptions. Often these sensations complement each other: smells and sights, hearings and visions, etc. Traditional Japanese landscape symbolism, e.g. the moon, gets transformed in the poet’s artistic picture of the world depending on his ideological precepts. The Japanese poetic technique also influenced the formal side of B. Kanapyanov’s poetry: preference for syllabic versification, loose adherence to meter and rhyme. Such a significant influence of Japanese culture and literature is explained by the common philosophical attitude to nature among the Kazakh and the Japanese, namely: principles of unity of man and nature, harmonious coexistence of man and nature, and non-interference of man in nature. The syllabic type of versification is also characteristic of not only Japanese but also of the Kazakh language.