“Cunt Norton” by Dodie Bellamy (Call # 1789)
Cunt Norton by Dodie Bellamy is a collection of poems responding to the 1975 edition of The Norton Anthology of Poetry. Bellamy, using a technique she developed in an earlier work titled Cunt-ups, takes cut-ups of poems found in the Norton Anthology and splices them with erotic prose. The cut-ups she uses are from poems by highly-esteemed writers such as Shakespeare, Chaucer, Frost, and Ginsberg. The result is a series of poems that read in the styles of each featured poet, but with intensely erotic and hilarious content.
In an interview with Matias Viegener, Bellamy discusses the use of pornographic language and accrual writing styles. On the former she states that “pornographic language is fascinating in that it has a direct impact on the body — tumescence, heart rate, breathing, etc. But to use it, one risks reinscribing a narrative of power relations that [she] would hope to subvert”. Cunt Norton accomplishes this wonderfully; as one reads it they find themselves laughing at the absurdity of the writing, and the contrast between raunchy and romantic. Further, when asked about her writing process, Bellamy states: “in a way I’m fucking those poems. The writing itself becomes a sort of sex act”. She defaces the texts, though the eroticism does more than just make the source material pornographic -- it makes it queer, it makes the speaking voice ambiguous, and it makes the reader question who holds power within the text. It may also leave the reader wondering whether Bellamy’s writing pieces are meant to disgrace or sensually revere these poets. As Harriet Staff concludes in her review of this book:
“Cunt Norton, a radically feminist and queer set of texts, is not just about defacing graffiti-like the lines of dead white men (“Cunt Dickinson” being the only dead white woman). It’s also a love song to the Western canon, and yes, the Norton Anthology—two institutions largely closed off to non-European, non-male voices”. (Staff)
The Norton Anthology of Poetry is available at the Emily Carr Library:
The Norton Anthology of Poetry by
Works Cited and Additional Resources
Staff, Harriet. “Dodie Bellamy’s Cunt Norton Reviewed at The American Reader”. Poetry Foundation, January 21st, 2014. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2014/01/dodie-bellamys-cunt-norton-reviewed-at-the-american-reader
Viegener, Matias. “Poetry and Pornography: An Interview with Dodie Bellamy”. Los Angeles Review of Books, February 3rd, 2014. https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/poetry-pornography-interview-dodie-bellamy/#!
Wintz, Sara. “From Cut-up to Cunt-up: Dodie Bellamy in Conversation”. Poetry Foundation, November 21st, 2013. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2013/11/from-cut-up-to-cunt-up-dodie-bellamy-in-conversation-
Falandays, Kallie. “Interview with Dodie Bellamy / Author of Cunt Norton”. American Microreviews and Interviews. http://www.americanmicroreviews.com/interview-with-dodie-bellamy
Ives, Lucy. “Interview with Dodie Bellamy”. The White Review, November 2016. http://www.thewhitereview.org/feature/interview-dodie-bellamy/
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