2/11/14

THE STATE OF STORY IN THE STATE: Second in A Series

The Many Types of Traditional Storytelling


Hearth Side Telling:  The first instances of stories shared for education, instruction and values sharing occurs in the home or in the family unit. The "hearth" is  symbolic of that fire around which family life revolved, unified and learned.  The stories told around the kitchen table, at bedtime, and on the front porch that help to ground a person in their identity, the heritage, and their values as a member of that family unit.

Examples:
Kitchen Table Stories of Childhood
Bedtime Stories
Family History Stories

The Culture Bearing Storyteller:  These are the individuals who educate. shape and keep the history and values of the community.  They may be librarians, elders, ministers, religious leaders, educators, health care providers, youth leaders, and others.  They help define the corporate identity of a community (a town, an ethnic association,  a school, a church, a club, etc.) and are its historian remembering who the community was, why it is the way it is, and sharing that with future generations.

Examples:
Elders
Librarians
Teachers
Pastors/Religious Leaders
Community Leaders
Political Leaders


The Performing Storyteller: These are individuals who learn stories to share to entertain, to advocate, to persuade, to encourage, to motivate, and to make people think. They emerge from a variety of 'hearth' settings, shaped by a variety of culture bearing stories, and bring to the place where they share publically using the skills of oral communication.

Examples are diverse because the origins and influences are so varied.  There is no 'one' type of storyteller, no approved single form or style. That is its power and that is its strength.

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