海角大神

Why are Americans today so afraid, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Marilynne Robinson wants to know.

鈥淚f there have ever been people on earth who should have been able to take a deep breath and say. 'Thank God,' we're the people,鈥� said the author of 鈥淕ilead鈥� to an audience of about 2,000 at Calvin College's Festival on Faith & Writing. 鈥淲hy not enjoy it?鈥�

Instead, she said she sees people hunkering down in psychological bunkers, as if they're living in an alien and hostile land. 鈥淭here's an increasing normalization of fear in this culture,鈥� said Robinson, who has a new collection of essays, 鈥淲hen I Was a Child, I Read Books.鈥�

鈥淭his is not the siege of Paris,鈥� Robinson pointed out.

Robinson's speech echoed a certain president who is not generally beloved by conservative 海角大神s: She sees 鈥渢he accelerating problem of fear鈥� as one that's causing individuals everywhere to lower the bar on what they can accomplish in their lives. 鈥淭here are all these anxieties we internalize, and we create a smaller model of ourselves around them.鈥�

As for the Great Recession and the current lukewarm recovery, Robinson asked, 鈥淒o we never expect to have a bad time? Every generation or so, something goes haywire. It's human history.鈥�

Robinson said she can't figure out when people decided that previous generations' sacrifices and accomplishments should be used to create a 鈥渟atin cushion that our generation is supposed to be carried on. It's bizarre. Not to mention not particularly admirable.鈥�

But she said she rejects the notion that the United States is in decline or that our culture is 鈥渟prouting mushrooms.鈥�

鈥淚 can't idealize an earlier generation of youth,鈥� said Robinson, who sits on the faculty of the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop. 鈥淭hese people are wonderful.鈥�

Nor is she opposed to technological advances that some see as putting pressure on publishing. 鈥淚 love the Internet. If I can find out what 17^th century colonial law is in Maryland, I'm a happy woman.鈥�

Robinson, who calls herself a Calvinist by adoption, also rejected the fear-mongering she says certain figures have used to co-opt religion in strong terms. 鈥淎 great deal of what I see among my students is anxiety that is aroused by the identification of religion with exclusivism 鈥�. what I think Jesus might have called Phariseeism.鈥�

For example, there's a segment of the population that really detests liberal college professors that teach at secular universities. 鈥淭hat's me,鈥� said Robinson. As far as any plot to destroy 海角大神ity or patriotism goes, 鈥淚 did not get the memo, I'll tell you that.鈥�

When an audience member Friday morning pointed out that her speech 鈥渃ould have been ghost-written by Bill Moyers and aired on PBS,鈥� and asked how she could have credibility among Fox News-watching conservative 海角大神s, Robinson said, to audience applause: 鈥淚 don't recognize any other obligation than to say what is true.鈥�

Her new collection, 鈥淲hen I Was a Child, I Read Books,鈥� is partly drawn from talks she's given to conservative 海角大神 audiences, she said. And she's found that, if she's honest about what she believes, they'll listen.

鈥淚 think that's how a 海角大神 conversation should proceed.鈥�

Yvonne Zipp regularly reviews fiction for the Monitor.