Interview with Robert Bly, the American storyteller behind the Iron ...

Tag : iron

Although regarded as a quintessential voice of the North Americanprairies, Robert Bly at 81 spends most of his time in either asmall, cluttered office suite above his garage or an implausiblysturdily built gingerbread cabin/sanctuary in the backyard of his100-year-old Minneapolis home. Of the cabin, a gift from a friend,he says with a smile, “No one but me is allowed in”.
Almost two decades have passed since the commercial success andcontroversy of Iron John: A Book About Men , the 1990 nonfiction book drawn from a Brothers Grimm fairytaleabout a wild man discovered at the bottom of a lake deep in adangerous forest. The book caught the public's imagination andspawned a men's movement reflecting on male responsibility and thenature of heroism in a modern world. It remains the work for whichBly is most widely known.
He is thinner now but still identifiable by the distinctive mane ofwild, white silky hair. The years have taken little toll on hispresence as a performer. His baritone voice remains strong, and,often accompanied by drums and sound effects, his readings stillhave the power of incantations.
Bly also remains a cultural presence on his local landscape. Thisyear he was named the state of Minnesota's first“official” poet laureate. The lofty title is of coursemostly ceremonial. But the recognition - grudgingly, from aconservative governor with whom Bly shares almost no politicalaffinity - was widely regarded as long overdue.
In anticipation of his appearance at the Westcountry StorytellingFestival next month he had been asked to assess the health of theart form in an age awash in stories delivered by everything fromiPods to YouTube. His assessment has changed little since Iron John .
“The great story,” he says, “has a lot ofenemies. The sheer power of the money interests continue to dilutethe power of stories and myths.” His new book - atranslation, with Leonard Lewisohn, of 30 poems of Hafez, the great14th-century Persian poet - is called The Angels Knocking on the Tavern Door (published by Harper): the symbiotic relationship between twoseemingly opposed forces, celestial angels and profane taverns,appeals to Bly's fundamental ethos, namely that beauty andenlightenment are achieved only by confronting and conquering thelow, vulgar and fearsome. Little of value is accomplished bystorytelling that ignores so basic a tenet.
“We've been watching a great disintegration of culture overthe past 20 years or so. The commercial interests sell us onlystories that avoid unsettling us. Stories that never require us toask, 'What must I do to show courage? To be heroic?' Fromeverywhere we are sold stories that never require us to act. Whenpoets of my generation were younger we thought the work we wouldsee would all be like Joseph Campbell. We were caught up in theexcitement of pursuing heroic myths and what that pursuit wouldbring. We were wrong.”
Those who share Bly's contempt for this White House Administrationcan only chuckle as he rolls a shot at George W. Bush into histhoughts on the impoverished state of American storytelling.“Bush is the perfect model for our culture today. This is aman who ignores anything he doesn't want to hear. Heroism is easy.There are no bad stories.”
As is often the case with a literary phenomenon, Iron John was much criticised and parodied. Bly's message that the heroicquest was vital to the spiritual health of men - that it was aninvigorating, bonding experience that men should share with eachother and tutor in boys - was attacked by certain feminists asreactionary to their message. In pop culture Iron John was lampooned as a kind of testosterone-addled paean to drinking,drumming and running naked in the woods. There are many people,though, for whom Iron John still resonates, and Bly continues to play a key role in twoweek-long “conferences” built on its message.
His forthcoming trip to Britain got him thinking on an ironyaccompanying the cultural disintegration he laments: “Thereare still an amazing number of poetry readings going on in theUnited States. What's more, those who attend bring tremendousenergy and curiosity. They want to engage with the work. They wantto argue. They ask questions and linger long after the reading hasfinished.” He laughs. “It's different in Britain. Theylisten very intently and politely and then at the stroke of 45minutes or whatever was scheduled they all applaud and beginleaving for tea or a glass of wine.”
Bly says he senses “a fantastic sadness” in society,America in particular. Some of it “is because we voted forthis idiot, twice”. But another part of it is the emptinessresulting from a culture untethered from a sense of greaterpurpose, a central purpose of storytelling that stirs theconscience and soul. “Our own intelligence has failedus,” he says. “It is another reason why greatliterature is more important now than ever.”
Robert Bly performs at the Westcountry Storytelling Festival,Dartington Hall Estate, South Devon, September 5-7 (01803 863790; weststoryfest.co.uk ) and at St James's Piccadilly, London W1, September 13 (020-73810441; stalkingtherebelsoul.com/tickets ).
There are many storytelling events coming up in the autumn - at TheTimes Cheltenham Literature Festival, at the Barbican in London,and all around the country. For full listings, check out thewebsites of the Crick Crack Club and the Society for Storytelling