The teller, the tale and the told

Steven Killick, Neil Frude

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Steven Killick and Neil Frude talk about the psychology of oral storytelling

It is easy to forget how
mysterious and mighty stories
are. They do their work in silence,
invisibly. They work with all the
internal materials of the mind
and self. They become part of you
while changing you. Beware the
stories you read or tell: subtly, at
night, beneath the waters of
consciousness, they are altering
your world.
          Ben Okri, Birds of Heaven (1996)

People tell all manner of stories, in many different social contexts, for different purposes and to different effect. Sometimes such stories are meant to inspire or motivate, persuade or deceive. Sometimes they have the function of warning or educating, and often they are told merely to amuse or entertain. Storytelling is frequently spontaneous and informal, but it may also happen regularly and ‘by appointment’, whether this is the nightly routine of a child’s bedtime story or an event by a professional storyteller in a school or theatre.
In this article, we will explore psychological aspects of oral or ‘live’ storytelling. It is our belief that stories can have profound effects on how people think and feel and that these effects may be particularly powerful when the story is delivered ‘live’ by a skilled storyteller.
Storytelling is sometimes seen as an innocent activity best suited to young children, but there has been a strong resurgence of interest in the ‘oral tradition’, the telling of stories that have been passed through several generations by word of mouth. This is now being recognised as a rediscovered art form, a form of entertainment, and as a social activity with many actual and potential applications in education, healthcare and in the workplace. Storytellers can now be found working in schools, libraries, arts centres, and in the increasing number of festivals held worldwide that celebrate the storytelling revival. Psychologists, both in academia and in applied settings, may find an increasing interest in the use of narrative and story in a number of fields that draw upon this oral tradition to a greater or lesser extent. Storytelling has been the subject of multidisciplinary study through the disciplines of theatre, anthropology and folklore. Although not currently the focus of much psychological research, it may be a fruitful area for investigation.
Stories, novels and poems clearly have the power to move people emotionally, to inspire them, to amuse them, to uplift them and sometimes to anger them. The process of storytelling is a highly complex human interaction, a powerful form of communication that has a high emotional, motivational and social impact. When a story is ‘told’, as opposed to read off the page or witnessed in a dramatic portrayal, it enters the interpersonal and interactive sphere and this may heighten its emotional impact. For most of human history storytelling has been a major form of entertainment, education and a means of passing on values – often conveying folk wisdom about how to survive or succeed or behave correctly.
However, relatively little has been written about the impact of ‘live storytelling’ on children and adults. Our conceptualisation of ‘live’ or oral storytelling is of a triadic interaction between a ’teller’, the ‘story’ being told and the ‘audience’, whether it be one listener or many (Killick & Wilson, 1999). We will consider each in turn, particularly in relation to formal storytelling.

The art of the storyteller

The storyteller does not learn a story word for word, as an actor learns a script, but reinvents the story afresh each time. The essential ingredients may remain the same, but every telling of a story is a unique creation that will reflect the storyteller’s mood and their response to the physical environment and the audience. The story is conveyed not just verbally but also non-verbally, and the It is easy to forget how mysterious and mighty stories are. They do their work in silence, invisibly. They work with all the internal materials of the mind and self. They become part of you while changing you. Beware the stories you read or tell: subtly, at night, beneath the waters of consciousness, they are altering your world. Ben Okri, Birds of Heaven (1996) People tell all manner of stories, in many different social contexts, for different purposes and to different effect. Sometimes such stories are meant to inspire or motivate, persuade or deceive. Sometimes they have the function of warning or educating, and often they are told merely to amuse or entertain. Storytelling is frequently spontaneous and informal, but it may also happen regularly and ‘by appointment’, whether this is the nightly routine of a child’s bedtime story or an event by a professional storyteller in a school or theatre. In this article, we will explore psychological aspects of oral or ‘live’ storytelling. It is our belief that stories can have profound effects on how people think and feel and that these effects may be particularly powerful when the story is delivered ‘live’ by a skilled storyteller.