Ito Hiromi 伊藤比呂美 "Killing Kanoko" 「カノコ殺し」

This film shows the Japanese poet Ito Hiromi reading a slightly abridged version of her poem "Killing Kanoko" at Western Michigan University on October 3, 2008. The translation is by Jeffrey Angles and appears in the collection _Killing Kanoko_ (Action Books, 2009). For more info, see http://alturl.com/khkd.

This poem, written at the time when Ito was taking care of her first daughter Kanoko, is one of Ito's most famous and frequently anthologized poems. The bold expression of a young mother's desire to commit infanticide shocked many readers and earned Ito a place in the tabloid newspapers. The words "Congratulations on your destruction" (horoboshite omedeto gozaimasu) repeat and overlap, creating recurring, almost hypnotic cadences that parody the congratulatory message a young mother hears repeatedly upon becoming pregnant or giving birth.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• Japanese
• poetry
• Japanese poetry
• Hiromi Ito
• feminism
• feminist poetry
• 日本語
• 詩
• 現代詩
• 伊藤比呂美

[EdOscuro]

Time to add the first comment to Dr. Angles' videos!

This particular poem probably made the deepest impression on me as it goes through the gamut of maternal feelings - and it doesn't stop there; there's material here that relates to anybody who has had a relationship with somebody else.

There's a formula involved, but it's still highly engaging poetry.