masculinist rhetoric ‘he is blessed over all mortals who loses no moment
of the passing life in remembering the past’. The contrasting texts and their
respective registers suggest that different forms of remembering are avail-
able to men and women.
An important aspect of this collage is the way it intercuts so rapidly
between unrelated sources. This is also true of Amanda Stewart’s per-
formance poem ‘.romance (1981)’:
Example 4.3:Textual intercutting
.romance
1st date 1st kiss 1st kiss 1st
fuck 1st/1st/1st/ relived
to be roses/candles/
moons/waves/beaches/idiosynchronize/
presents/chocolates/early morning
lust/walks/fires/song/dance/hold hands/
press close/meetin the eyes/hands/movement/hands/
move/lips/eyes/shoulder/nape/eyes/lobes/ears/eyes/
’till death us do part
ing is such sweet sor
ry to s
ay i
love y
ou are the way the truth and the l
ight of the
silvery moon rose is a rose is a rose is a way to s
ay i
love y
ouaremyloveisloveisloveisloveislove
.is love‘.romance (1981)’ (Stewart 1998, p. 13)As we move into the second part of the poem, a number of well-worn
phrases are collaged together, but merged so that they overlap. The poem
includes a biblical quotation ‘’till death do us part’, some lines from old
popular songs including ‘by the light of the silvery moon’, and a quotation
from Gertrude Stein ‘a rose is a rose is a rose’, all of which are drawn from
diverse social and artistic contexts. Welded together they suggest the com-
modification and commercialisation of romance in contemporary society:
important again here is the tension between the old context from which
the quotations are taken and their new juxtaposition. The popular songs,
Writing as recycling 71