January 22, 2021
18:45
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The last issue (16) of the sumptuous America magazine came out this Wednesday, the day of Trump’s departure, which she reported, issue after issue, of the extraordinary presidency, through the writers’ pen.
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On Wednesday, during the inauguration of Joe Biden, a figure illuminated the ceremony: poet Amanda Gorma. The 22-year-old from Los Angeles recited a poem entitled “The hill we climb”, ode to reconciliation and union for a country bruised by dissension. “We are going to turn this wounded world into another, wonderful,” she said. These simple words have said more than all the speeches and all the political programs.
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“In my childhood, black people lived in fear on a daily basis.”
Toni Morrison
Extract from America n ° 16
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This is not without echoing the project of the magazine America, subtitled “America as you have never read it”, whose last issue was released this Wednesday also, thus coming to close the “Trump years”. Launched in March 2017, this mook, which has had great editorial success, gave the floor to writers to brush up on the portrait of American society and tell the story of Trump’s extraordinary presidency.
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REPLAY – Investiture of Joe Biden: poet Amanda Gorman recites a poem
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Exploring the United States from every angle, very big names in American literature have followed one another in the pages of the review: Toni Morrison, Paul Auster, James Ellroy, Bret Easton Ellis, Joyce Carol Oates, Margaret Atwood, Cormac McCarthy, Salman Rushdie, Richard Powers, Jonathan Franzen, Colson Whitehead, Joan Didion ou encore Thomas Pynchon. Figures from French literature like Lola Lafon, Alice Zeniter, Philippe Besson, JM Le Clezio or Laurent Gaudé were also invited to give their vision of America.
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“And do not forget that this president will pass, but that your country remains.”
Colum McCann
Extract from America n ° 16
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The opportunity to question Julien bisson, editor-in-chief, who with Francois Busnel and Eric Fottorino, co-founders of the journal, sensed that writers and literature were perhaps best able to describe this historical turning point …
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What was your goal with “America” magazine and why stop now?
We wanted to offer a narrative of the Trump presidency with the words of the writers. We wanted to tell the story of these very unique years. During 4 years, we have thus evoked all the great American myths to deconstruct them: violence, Native Americans, guns, sex, money, the great outdoors. Once Trump got out of the White House, the magazine’s very raison d’être lost its meaning. Of course, we could have continued, but then we would have taken the risk of repeating ourselves. You have to know when to stop at the right time.
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What can the literary narrative do in the face of the conspiratorial narrative?
The literary story makes it possible to go scratch the varnish, to debunk the myths, to go and see what is below the lies. You cannot convince a conspirator with an official speech when if you offer him a great novel it can resonate with him. Through fiction and characters, we can succeed in transmitting a form of truth that sometimes official authorities can no longer transmit.
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“The claim that Americans love and indulge in violence is a self-serving lie.”
Stephen King
Extract from America n ° 16
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Obama had a very good knowledge of American literature. Which was not the case with Trump. Can it have an influence?
Obama had indeed a good knowledge of literature, which structured his personality, his understanding and above all his empathy, Obama’s literary knowledge was an essential component of his empathy for Americans, including those who were not from its political edge. Trump’s lack of literary culture is symptomatic of his lack of empathy for all Americans.
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What does the literature tell us that political analysis cannot show us?
The literature says something else. No political analyst had seen Hillary Clinton’s defeat coming when American writers, since 2010, have described this growing frustration and anger in deep America. America, after eight years of Obama’s presidency, was not necessarily doing well. If we had read them more, we probably could have better anticipated Trump’s election. The writers who portray American society and its reality shed light on the underlying springs that are at play in the country.
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