“Doina” also involves a style of short poetry, close to haiku, slightly melancholic. By their nature and tradition, the verses of “doina” are a collective (collaborative) product, not having a named author. Haiku also, as we know from Bashō, are many times composed, refined and recited in groups, not by only one poet. Beyond this characteristic of „group creation”, I see many other similarities between the aesthetics of “doina” and haiku, both taking great inspiration from nature, the seasons, weather, state of spirit etc.
By joining the UNESCO heritage list, the 17 syllables poetic form, proves to be not just a popular composition, but a profound creation. Of course, by its nature, it is easier for Romanians to write a haiku than a novel, for instance. This is one of the reasons for its attractiveness, even for the people without a talent for literature. Its universality comes also from the facility of making it.
Including doina and haiku on the same UNESCO heritage list would not be an accidental association of facts.There are some basic, important parallels between them. It confirms a resonance in the spirits and minds of the two peoples, Romanian and Japanese, of the beauty of their nature and landscape, with four distinctive seasons and plenty of colorful plants and flowers, all over the plains, hills and mountains, with the changing aspects of the seas and skies and a transcendental harmony between human being and the environment.
Like in haiku, in doina too, the poetic ornaments are avoided, or, in any case, they are not very relevant like in the “pastels” of the Romanian classical poet, Vasile Alecsandri (1821 – 1890), for instance.