Blood & Guts in High School

Kathy Acker's style of collage in Blood and Guts in High School is perfect for the story she is relating. The broken scenes, intertwined drawings and segmented reality lead the reader to feel as if the whole story is not quite unfolded before them. I think Acker utilized a cut-up technique similar to that of Billy Borroughs in such a way that it also contributed to the intensely twisted narrative at the heart of a girl named, Janey. From a ten year old's perspective, everything would not be in complete, adult thought. In other words, the fact that Janey had normed a completely unhealthy relationship with her father and again fell into an abusive sexual relationship with another man is more than a linear, traditional narrative could represent. What would change if Acker spelled everything out in a linear style? There are many things that happen when people experience trauma. Selective memory, rationalization, irrational thoughts and emotional outbursts may be part of a traumatic experience. In this way, the cut-up method is a most appropriate way to tell this story. What happens is that even without a beginning to end type of story, a story - and a picture unfold. It is the visual association and the disorientation of the reader that make Janey very real. Reading Blood and Guts is like mixing subconscious with reality and even then, mere fragments of each.

During the course of a day, we all have thoughts that come and go. If we think about how many of those we actually consciously process, it is few. On a normal day, it is the thoughts that are attached to emotions that come to the surface of our realities. In this case, I believe Acker was brilliant in her literary assemblage. In this way, Acker has created a 'systematic derangement of senses' which was mentioned in the Borroughs article. Colors, smells, sounds, touches are mixed up furthering the idea of disorientation.

I find it rather easy to draw lines to Max Ernst in terms of literary collage. Particularly, Une Semaine de Bonté or other of his graphic novel remixes.

Also, a video where Acker interviews Burroughs.