Author: Stephanie Booth

The Myth of Zen in the Art of Archery [en]

Many people interested in Japan or the martial arts have certainly read Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel. Fewer are those who have equally read Yamada’s very interesting article titled The Myth of Zen in the Art of Archery (Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, 2001, 28/1-2).

Before reading Yamada’s article, I had always taken Herrigel’s account pretty much at face value. When you consider the impact of Herrigel’s book on our understanding and interpretation of martial arts, what Yamada puts forth will definitely make one think.

Eugen Herrigel’s “Zen in the Art of Archery” has been widely read as a study of Japanese culture. By reconsidering and reorganizing Herrigel’s text and related materials, however, this paper clarifies the mythical nature of “Zen in the Art of Archery” and the process by which this myth has been generated. This paper first gives a brief history of Japanese archery and places the period at which Herrigel studied Japanese archery within that time frame. Next, it summarizes the life of Herrigel’s teacher, Awa Kenzo. At the time Herrigel began learning the skill, Awa was just beginning to formulate his own unique ideas based on personal spiritual experiences. Awa himself had no experience in Zen nor did he unconditionally approve of Zen. By contrast, Herrigel came to Japan in search of Zen and chose Japanese archery as a method through which to approach it. The paper goes on to critically analyze two important spiritual episodes in “Zen and the Art of Archery.” What becomes clear through this analysis is the serious language barrier existing between Awa and Herrigel. The testimony of the interpreter, as well as other evidence, supports the fact that the complex spiritual episodes related in the book occurred either when there was no interpreter present, or were misinterpreted by Herrigel via the interpreter’s intentionally liberal translations. Added to this phenomenon of misunderstanding, whether only coincidental or born out of mistaken interpretation, was the personal desire of Herrigel to pursue things Zen. Out of the above circumstances was born the myth of “Zen in the Art of Archery.”

Yamada Shoji, The Myth of Zen in the Art of Archery (Abstract)

End of Holiday [en]

Aleika and Akirno left this morning. It was great having them.

One of the high points of my week with them involved drawing Teletubbies on restaurant table mats.

On the Radio [en]

A recording of an interview I did for the local radio, in French.

[] A recording of an interview I did for the local radio, in French.

Even if you don’t understand French, you might be interested in hearing a recording of this piece about weblogs which aired during the noon news.

My interview starts at five minutes 14 seconds approximately. If you’ve heard my “English voice”, you’ll most certainly notice that my “French voice” is different (it’s quite a bit lower). Anybody with a scientific explanation for this phenomenon is most welcome to share it!

Emission radio sur les weblogs [en]

Enregistrement du bref interview que j’ai fait pour la RSR1.

J’ai passé à  la radio!

Thème du jour: les weblogs [page de l’émission]. Magnifique démonstration de mon bel accent vaudois 😉 que vous pouvez entendre à  partir de la position 5:14.

Vous y entendrez aussi Christian, bien sûr, et surtout Emmanuelle.

Vous vouliez la page des weblogs suisses pour y rajouter le vôtre?

Photos of Switzerland [en]

As it’s too hot to sleep, here are some aerial pictures of Switzerland. If it stays this hot, I’m going to sleep on my balcony. 31.5°C says the thermometer. And look at what time it is.

First, the index for Switzerland. Zoom into my little canton, Vaud.

Start by visiting Lausanne. More than 300 photos available if you click on the map. This is the old town.

I live in this area, but unfortunately there are no pictures of my neighbourhood. There’s one of the World Trade Center, where part of the Orange offices are, however. My neighbourhood doesn’t look anything like those tall buildings you can see, by the way. Have a look at Prilly if you want a better idea of what it could look like—I live on the border between Lausanne and Prilly.

Le Mont is where I grew up. Again, unfortunately, no photographs of my father’s house. Check out the university: my building is the one alongside the motorway in the last picture. Hop off to Bussigny. The building I work in is the bottom one in the photo-before-last.

De la traduction automatique [en]

Réflexion suite à  un commentaire de la grande rousse.

A mon avis, les traducteurs en ligne ne remplaceront jamais un traducteur humain. Pour trancher entre les différents sens possibles d’un mot en cas d’ambiguité, on utilise le sens du contexte. On infère également les sens possibles de l’ensemble du texte suite à  notre choix.

Jusqu’à  nouvel avis, la saisie du sens global est une opération de synthèse. La synthèse, contrairement à  l’analyse, est une opération proprement humaine et vivante. L’analyse peut tenter d’expliquer le tout en le décomposant, et pour ce qui nous intéresse, tenter de reconstruire le sens d’un texte en juxtaposant les sens individuels des mots qui le composent – mais elle ne pourra atteindre le “tout”.

Une manière un peu plus “bateau” de dire ceci, c’est “le tout est plus que la somme des parties”. Ce “plus”, c’est ce qu’apporte l’opération de synthèse.

Les traducteurs automatiques sont à  mon avis très utiles pour savoir de quoi parle un texte dans une langue que l’on ne maîtrise pas. Ils peuvent aussi servir de béquille pour comprendre un texte dans une langue que l’on ne maîtrise pas complètement. Mais ils ne peuvent rendre compte avec exactitude de ce qui est dit, ni de comment c’est dit.

Plus de considérations sur l’analyse et la synthèse.

Heat [en]

Today is beyond doubt the closest swiss equivalent to indian “waiting-for-the-monsoon” heat. It has been unbearably hot for over a week now, and I can’t remember when it last rained.

“Unbearably hot” means something like 30°C+ at night. It means you don’t sleep well at all (if you sleep). Remember, no A/C or fans in swiss houses, and no high ceilings to allow for air circulation.

I spent the last days dumping water on my balcony and living with the blinds down most of the time (apart from strategic moments like the morning where I open everything up to let the cool air in). Bagha spends his days stretched out somewhere on the floor, snoozing.

There is now a lid of misty clouds high above our heads – could it please rain soon?

For Blogomaniacs [en]

Freshblogs allows you to set up a list of blogs you watch. It then keeps track of which was updated last, and allows you to publish the resulting list to your site.

I’m only just starting to test it, but it does seem interesting!

[link via Anil]

Life News [en]

My appointment at the hairdresser’s was last week, not this week. I learnt that when I called to say I would be a little late because my car battery was dead.

By some sort of miracle (somebody had just canceled their appointment, somebody else managed to make my car start, and I set a record for the distance Lausanne-Vevey) my hair is now somewhat shorter than it was this morning.

This is an important point, because I have my judo black belt exam tomorrow afternoon, and my hair was really getting in my face.

Other than that, I almost completely ripped out the phone cable – I guess another miracle left those two tiny wires connected. I’m astonished the ADSL works.

Aleika and Akirno are coming to spend a few days with me next week. Plans: a trip to France, watch Girl Fight, see some judo (for her) and maybe roll on the mats a bit (I can imagine Akirno tearing round the dojo while we do that), learn how to give punches to a punching-bag. Oh, and talk talk talk talk talk. Of course.