impulses of the brush

Kimiko Hahn, writing critically of various descriptions of zuihitsu:

I was looking for a definition of the zuihitsu from my shelf of Japanese texts, but discovered none gave more than a sentence or two. None seemed especially scholarly – which might be a good thing. None offered the sense of disorder that feels so integral. …

none conveys the tonal insistence a writer finds her/himself in. None suggests an organizing principle – what we might call a theme. None comments on structural variety – list, diary, commentary, essay, poem. Fragment.

None offers that a sense of disorder might be artfully ordered by fragmenting, juxtaposing, contradicting, varying length or – even within a piece – topic.

From “Compass,” The Narrow Road to the Interior, page 3

I find correspondences between the characteristics of zuihitsu outlined here and the natural world. Structural variety. A sense of disorder, artfully ordered.

Later in the book, this:

With or without fluency, I can still love the zuihitsu as a kind of air current: and what arises is very subjective, intuitive and spontaneous – qualities I trust. Also a clear voice.

That it was cultivated by a woman and feels significant – as a writing space for women. It is by it own nature a fragmented anything. I love long erratic pieces into which I can thrash around – make a mess. Lose the intellect.

“Pulse and Impulse,” page 59