Well, I suppose it could be beautiful and tortured at the same time. A bit like certain French films. The trouble is, I tend to doze off whilst watching them. The wrong sort of serenity, methinks...
s
Lexicon of style
Well its the latest generation of French films that rival sedatives for their efficiency..the old classic French films were wonderful.
Michael
Michael
Another term vaguely related to style is "gallant". But who still employs this word nowadays? Kafka's father owned a shop for "Galanteriewaren", where the writer himself worked for a while. There one could find handkerchiefs, gloves, walking sticks and further accessories in a gentleman's wardrobe.
"Gallant" sounds very good to me - not in the material sense of "Galanteriewaren", but rather as an attribute of the spirit. Could it be a good approximation of the Japanese "iki"? Various definitions include words like: courageous and honourable, brave and high-spirited - besides the courteous, chivalrous, flirtatious meanings.
As for who uses it anymore - I believe that, if we look for neologisms to describe style, we might end up rather frustrated... Perhaps shredder's "cool" is one of the few contemporary examples. The fact that such words as "gallantry" have fallen into disuse is a sign that what they describe is also becoming rare.
Magnanimous (not as a word - used as rarely as "gallant" - but as a notion) also comes to mind as belonging to the Lexicon. Very expressive etimology: magna anima - great soul.
Might the French "coulant" also be a word associated with stylish attitude?
As for who uses it anymore - I believe that, if we look for neologisms to describe style, we might end up rather frustrated... Perhaps shredder's "cool" is one of the few contemporary examples. The fact that such words as "gallantry" have fallen into disuse is a sign that what they describe is also becoming rare.
Magnanimous (not as a word - used as rarely as "gallant" - but as a notion) also comes to mind as belonging to the Lexicon. Very expressive etimology: magna anima - great soul.
Might the French "coulant" also be a word associated with stylish attitude?
Similar to 'gallantry', one rarely witnesses ikiji being used these days. Perhaps not a coincidence?
Whilst 'gallantry' is indeed related to ikiji, it is not related to iki even though one is an etymological derivative of the other. The former is perhaps a word that can be applied more universally and at some level conjures up images of knights, as does 'gallantry'. The latter has certain specific connotations that, at least originally I believe, are specific to the common folk or to people of 'downtown', and further specific to those in Tokyo. 'High-spirited' is very much an element of iki, however. I don't know if I'm making any sense, but it's a bit like trying to explain gemütlichkeit...
Whilst 'gallantry' is indeed related to ikiji, it is not related to iki even though one is an etymological derivative of the other. The former is perhaps a word that can be applied more universally and at some level conjures up images of knights, as does 'gallantry'. The latter has certain specific connotations that, at least originally I believe, are specific to the common folk or to people of 'downtown', and further specific to those in Tokyo. 'High-spirited' is very much an element of iki, however. I don't know if I'm making any sense, but it's a bit like trying to explain gemütlichkeit...
Shredder, the truth is that it is very hard to translate certain words. The human sentiment may be the same, but it is expressed and nuanced differently in various cultures and a one-word translation rarely covers all meanings. That's the beauty of it, but makes it hard to understand a subtle notion using a bilingual dictionary. Perhaps a translation of the "iki" / "ikiji" entry from a good Japanese explicative dictionary would offer better help in grasping the meaning?
Costi, I think you answered your own question by the preceding sentences. It is not possible to define a word like that in isolation, without getting into a discussion about related words and concepts, even some historical background. Unless, of course, one does what Roland Barthes did in The Empire of Signs and deliberate succinctly on concepts found in a fictive nation. Barthes's method is not useful for scholarly research papers, but it may just be appropriate for the exercise at hand?
Another point of interest here is the distinction between “having style” and “having one’s own style”. I suspect many people are more interested in the latter and will go to great lengths to dress like a clown only to prove they have a style of their own. In having style, on the other hand, one does not try to look different. One may even go largely unnoticed, as Brummell himself had remarked regarding the truly well dressed gentleman.
Assigned required reading for style explorers: "The Structure of Iki" by Kuki Shuzo. This Japanese student of Bergson and Husserl wrote the classic text in the 1920s after a prolonged visit to Paris. The closest word in Western languages is "chic" but it is not really chic or dandified. The word iki first appeared in literature in the mid eighteenth century in Japan among the citizens of Edo (now Tokyo.) The word has complex meanings and facets that change with the application but as I have written above, you will all recognize "style" in the descriptions.Costi, I think you answered your own question by the preceding sentences. It is not possible to define a word like that in isolation, without getting into a discussion about related words and concepts, even some historical background. Unless, of course, one does what Roland Barthes did in The Empire of Signs and deliberate succinctly on concepts found in a fictive nation. Barthes's method is not useful for scholarly research papers, but it may just be appropriate for the exercise at hand?
Shuzo writes about the manifestations of iki among men and women, in Japanese aesthetics as compared to shibumi etc..in geometric designs, colors, interior decorating, architecture, and a tiny bit about clothes. I found the book fascinating and am reading it again.
Iki has aspects of chivalry (bushido) and gallantry as associated with ikiji but it has more complex series of meanings you will all recognize. Have fun reading the book.
Cheers
Michael
^ Great homework, Michael 
An excerpt:
"As for the width of his trousers and coat lapels, it is determined, not by the extreme narrowness that is something of a rage these days, but by, respectively, the length of his foot and the breadth of his shoulders. He selects, in short, clothes that become him. For anyone who is not as "clean favored and imperially slim . . . and admirably schooled in every grace" as Biddle is, the Biddle style of dress would be preposterous. Few things are more precarious than the indiscriminate aping of another man's wardrobe."
An excerpt:"As for the width of his trousers and coat lapels, it is determined, not by the extreme narrowness that is something of a rage these days, but by, respectively, the length of his foot and the breadth of his shoulders. He selects, in short, clothes that become him. For anyone who is not as "clean favored and imperially slim . . . and admirably schooled in every grace" as Biddle is, the Biddle style of dress would be preposterous. Few things are more precarious than the indiscriminate aping of another man's wardrobe."
Heinrich Neuhaus about making music: “Do not find yourself in the music, but find the music in yourself”.shredder wrote:One cannot put on Style.
Michael, I believe that the English title of the book is The Structure of Detachment but the point is that it takes up an entire book to provide a satisfactory explanation, and even then, all one might get is not a real understanding but the tools to spot it when one comes face to face with it and gain a real understanding. The book has been on my wish list at amazon, so I have not read it yet. Does the book mention 'pride OR honour', as you mentioned previously, or 'pride AND honour' with respect to ikiji? The latter places restraint on pride through the compliance with or conformance to a code, which I think would be more consistent with the notion of ikiji.
As you have read the book and have shared with us certain relevant bits that could enter the Lexicon, I wondered whether, in this specific context, we already have enough to work with. That is why I mentioned Barthes's work, which is not an attempt at explaining Japanese culture but a musing about semiotics using certain reference points resembling elements of Japanese culture as a convenient framework for an essay. Frankly, I don't care much for semiotics or existentialism. However, I find that the approach in that book is interesting: rather than fully understanding iki or ikiji, simply select the elements that are useful to the musing at hand. Of course, one might argue that, in order to pick out those elements, one must fully understand it. Fair argument. However, the practical question is, do we have a sufficient understanding for the task at hand? I am reminded of your yukata project where you did the sensible thing of shortening the hem in order to make it more comfortable for a Westerner's gait and made some adjustments to the sleeves, if I recall correctly; you did not do a wholesale import but instead took the relevant bits and made it your own, to suit your needs and desires. Do you think that you have extracted the relevant bits already, or would you suggest that we dig deeper?
s
ps, the book remains on my wish list, but with a higher priority.
As you have read the book and have shared with us certain relevant bits that could enter the Lexicon, I wondered whether, in this specific context, we already have enough to work with. That is why I mentioned Barthes's work, which is not an attempt at explaining Japanese culture but a musing about semiotics using certain reference points resembling elements of Japanese culture as a convenient framework for an essay. Frankly, I don't care much for semiotics or existentialism. However, I find that the approach in that book is interesting: rather than fully understanding iki or ikiji, simply select the elements that are useful to the musing at hand. Of course, one might argue that, in order to pick out those elements, one must fully understand it. Fair argument. However, the practical question is, do we have a sufficient understanding for the task at hand? I am reminded of your yukata project where you did the sensible thing of shortening the hem in order to make it more comfortable for a Westerner's gait and made some adjustments to the sleeves, if I recall correctly; you did not do a wholesale import but instead took the relevant bits and made it your own, to suit your needs and desires. Do you think that you have extracted the relevant bits already, or would you suggest that we dig deeper?
s
ps, the book remains on my wish list, but with a higher priority.
There are two translations into English available. I have the one by Hiroshi Nara. The relation to ikiji is described as "pride and honour" as in this passage: "That done, could we now combine both forms into a definition of iki as "sophisticated" (arising from akirame resignation), and coquetry (bitai) with "pluck" (arising from ikiji "pride and honour.)Does the book mention 'pride OR honour', as you mentioned previously, or 'pride AND honour' with respect to ikiji?
Shuzo makes this very point.Of course, one might argue that, in order to pick out those elements, one must fully understand it.
In some of the fascinating segments of the book he describes the variety of nuance in iki in relation to many words johin (elegant), gehin (inelegant), yabo (crude, vulgar), hade (flashy) and jimi (quiet), shibumi (understated, literally, "unripe persimmons"), this always in a way that makes perfect sense and is recognizable to a European sensibility. After all he is describing general characteristics of human nature.
I have been intrigued by the book at various levels. First is the recognition of things I had tried to describe myself. The author's expositions on geometrical designs where he explains why "stripes" are the essence of iki made me think about my own preference for stripes in my shirts. It turns out that all shades of gray are iki along with many shades of brown and a few of blue. For a few years I have expressed a preference for gray because it seemed more "chic" to me, more charming than blue. I had no idea that grays were more iki as well. And for those of us who love browns as well (and find them chic) there is this:" The color of iki is probably pale brown in "a man of high fashion far in the past dressed in a pale brown hakama (a pleated and divided skirt.)"
On a practical level, I have already thought about the applications of iki in interior design and architecture as it might apply to the houses I am working on now. It has also greatly influenced my ideas on acting (the performing art of seduction) and theater in general. And I have been told that my yukatas, that were a great source of merriment, are actually quite iki.
Cheers
Michael
Those are words that could take up entire threads of their own. The latter could be an entire book. It is true that with any concept, it is helpful to understand its place in relation to other concepts; context is very important.alden wrote:jimi (quiet), shibumi (understated, literally, "unripe persimmons")
I would submit that, stripes or no stripes, a garment per se cannot be iki, only when the habit is worn as such by the wearer, for example, without a pair of grey striped socks. Context-dependent, I should think.alden wrote:And I have been told that my yukatas, that were a great source of merriment, are actually quite iki.
Yes, and the author's few comments on clothes are more about the wearer's attitude than the clothes.I would submit that, stripes or no stripes, a garment per se cannot be iki
Sets of parallel lines are iki for their expression of duality "extending on forever, eternally equidistant. It is no coincidence that stripe designs are considered to be iki", writes Shuzo.
That is very true and I sense there are many more hours of reading pleasure ahead.Those are words that could take up entire threads of their own. The latter could be an entire book.
Cheers
Michael
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