Transformation of the Storyteller’s Role and Identity in the American Storytelling Movement

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Rachel Parkinson and Dr. Marsha D. Broadway, Harold B. Lee Library

To observe the transformations caused by the American storytelling movement, I interviewed national storytellers who are prominent in progressing the movement. Although I have not completed my goal of interviewing 24 national storytellers, 22 storytellers have responded and agreed to be interviewed. Of the 22 storytellers who agreed, I interviewed 16 storytellers during the summer months by telephone. Since I sent only 39 letters to various storytellers, 22 responses are amazing. I believe these positive replies show the power of storytelling and the affects it has on storytellers.

Besides conducting telephone interviews, I will conduct personal interviews in Jonesborough, Tennessee, the birthplace of the movement and the headquarters for the National Storytelling Association and the National Storytelling Festival. I will also study storytelling archives and publications only available in Jonesborough.

Storytelling began when humans spoke their first words. Storytelling is an interactive art form, co-creative and interpretive, a process offering the meaning of a story to an audience (1).

Laura Simms, a storyteller, saw the importance of the storytelling movement “coming from the fact that a very profound understanding and need for story and storytelling in the culture was the impulse for beginning of the movement” (2). The various reasons people have need for stories and storytelling encourages associations and guilds to form. This process has led to the revitalization stage in the American storytelling movement.

The revitalization stage is fourth out of five stages for a revitalization movement from Anthony F. C. Wallace’s Revitalization Theory. The sequence of a movement is “steady state; period of individual stress; period of cultural distortion; period of revitalization (in which mazeway reformulation, communication, organization, adaptation, cultural transformation, and routinization occur); and finally, new steady state” (2).

The revitalization stage of the American storytelling movement is organized storytelling. Organized storytelling is a formal event scheduled for a teller to perform for an audience. Some examples of formal events are schools, libraries, concert stages, and storytelling festivals. Organized storytelling brought stories, storytellers, and listeners together into a more formal atmosphere (2). The National Storytelling Festival and the National Association for the Preservation and Perpetuation of Storytelling, currently known as the National Storytelling Association, were key components of the process of organization and adaptation within the movement (2).

The National Storytelling Festival and NAPPS headquartered in Jonesborough inspired many other festivals and guilds to form. At present there are annual storytelling festivals held in more than 40 states (3), and at least one storytelling guild is in most of the states. In 1995, the National Storytelling Association had over 7,000 members (4).

As more people participated in associations and guilds, the emphasis of identity in organized storytelling called for rigid definitions for the role of the storyteller. To be able to claim the social identity of the storyteller, one must go through a dual process. The process is an “ever emergent perception that evolves as narrators have the opportunity to participate in events” (5). Identification as a storyteller is connected to having possibilities of storytelling experiences and affiliation to organized storytelling (2). Most storytellers take storytelling classes or workshops before they are conscious of their role as a storyteller. Storyteller Ruth Stotter questions, “Anyone who takes a class or sometimes even a single workshop can declare themselves a storyteller and begin to charge for their service. How do we distinguish between amateurs and professionals then especially since there are many misconceptions about what storytelling is and is not?” (6). In addition, Jane Wilson, a storytelling promoter, thought the knowledge of storytelling’s history is not enough to teach the art of storytelling to others. Knowledge of storytelling and its history is also insufficient for people to claim the role of the storyteller. People must experience the “trials of the apprentice” through telling stories to groups of various audiences and going through the process of selecting stories (7).

As storytelling grows in the opportunity as a moneymaking profession, some storytellers are questioning their identity as a teller. Tellers fear they might not be “true” storytellers (6).

References

  • McWilliams, B. (1997). “A Storytelling Definition (NSMA).” Eldrbarry’s Story Telling Page. Retrieved October 4, 1999 from the World Wide Web: http://www.seanet.com/~eldrbarry/roos/st_defn.htm
  • Sobol, J. D. (1999). The Storytellers’ Journey—An American Revival. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
  • McLead, M. (1997, May). “Once Upon a Time.” Reader’s Digest, 150 (901), 173-174, 176, 178.
  • National Storytelling Association. (1995). “1995 National Storytelling Directory.”
    Jonesborough, Tennessee: The National Storytelling Press.
  • Stone, K. F. (1997, Summer-Fall). “Social Identity in Organized Storytelling.” Western Folklore, 56 (3-4), 233-241.
  • Stone, K. F. (1998). Burning Brightly: New Light on Old Tales Told Today. Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview Press.
  • Wilson, J. B. (1979). The Story Experience. Metuchen, New Jersey: The Scarecrow Press, Inc.