THE TELLER, THE TALE AND THE TOLD.pdf

THE TELLER, THE TALE AND THE TOLD STEVEN KILLICK, NEIL FRUDE

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

THE TELLER, THE TALE AND THE TOLD

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 amount of eye contact, the tone of voice and use of gesture will be

modulated and adapted in response to the reactions of the listeners. The style in which the story is told will reflect

the content of the story and the personal style of the storyteller. Some storytellers are typically quiet and intimate in

their style whereas others make expansive and animated gestures and use a wide vocal range.

Thus storytelling is largely improvised and interactive. In order to make the experience intense and the story

vivid to listeners, the teller may provide the sensory detail and information about how the characters are thinking

and feeling. Stories are ‘remembered’ by the teller through interplay between language and image (Thomas &

Killick, 2007). The teller may call upon the rhythm of the words as well as some specific phrases that are

remembered exactly, and they may create strong visual images associated with the story – storytelling is not only

about listening but also about ‘seeing’. The teller may be said to ‘inhabit’ the story and to take listeners on a

journey. Such processes have much in common with well-known memory techniques. Indeed, the writer Doris

Lessing has claimed that literacy may have had a negative impact upon our ability to remember. Without easy

access to information provided by literacy there was more effort and success in committing tales to memory

(Lessing, 1999).

The storyteller role involves a number of aspects; the teller is part teacher, part preacher and part entertainer

with different storytellers emphasising these elements to different degrees. The fact that a storyteller can select or

change the story to suit the needs of the audience adds to the storyteller’s power to engage. The expression to

‘spin a yarn’ reflects the fact that storytelling was often used to help time to pass more quickly when people were

engaged in laborious, repetitive and boring activities. However a teller’s function is not only to distract and to

entertain. In many cases it is clear that there is an intention to instruct (or in some cases mislead), inform or

influence through the meaning inherent in the tale and transmitted in the telling.

‘Telling’ tales – what are stories really saying?

A story is a treasure chest of sign, symbol, image and metaphor. A staple component of many storytellers’

repertoires are traditional or ‘folk’ tales. These stories come from a mainly oral tradition, passed on through word of

mouth (although they may have become texts at various points as well). Traditional stories include myths and

legends, historical tales and ‘fairytales’ (also known as ‘wonder tales’). A small proportion of wonder tales such as

Snow White or Cinderella are very familiar today, partly because they have been transferred to other media and

transmitted to wide audiences in novel forms. Riddles and proverbs are fragments of the oral tradition still

commonly used today.

It is possible to trace many of these stories back through the generations, during which time the tales have

evolved considerably while still retaining a significant core identity. The fact that the same stories retain a

widespread popularity and an appeal across generations, and often across cultures, has suggested to many that

there is something archetypal about these enduring tales and that they must resonate with something deep in the

human psyche.

Many writers, such as Sigmund Freud, Bruno Bettelheim, Joseph Campbell, Ernest Bloch and Clarissa

Pinkola Estes have speculated about how such stories may reflect aspects of the psyche and may facilitate the

resolution of internal conflicts or provide an arena for wish fulfilment. Although it has been alleged that he took his

ideas, largely unattributed, from the work of Julius Heuscher (Pollak, 1997), Bettelheim has been particularly

influential. He suggested that these stories provide a means of transmitting unconscious role models to children

and thus helping children through the various stages of psychosexual development. His idea was that, by

identifying with the heroes and heroines they encounter in these stories, children rehearse strategies for dealing

with such delicate issues as separation from their parents, failing to meet with their parents’ expectations and

THE TELLER, THE TALE AND THE TOLD

rivalries with peers. Stories allow difficult issues to be examined in fantasy without provoking too much anxiety

(Bettelheim, 1976). In a contemporary analysis, Jon Kabat-Zinn (1994) wrote of such stories as ‘wise, ancient,

surprisingly sophisticated blueprints for our full development as human beings’. These tales are often elaborate

metaphors of transformation and frequently have an identifiable hermeneutic function. The message that they

convey is often deeply implicit but sometimes, as in Aesop’s fables, laid bare. The Brothers Grimm collected many

traditional stories and, as they became popular with the newly emerging commercial market for children, amplified

the moral undertones of the stories they collected. Zipes (2006) suggests that such stories are effective

transmitters of memes, being storehouses of cultural beliefs, symbols and practices. Typical themes of such

stories are the overcoming of seemingly impossible obstacles through the application of such virtues as

persistence or kindness.

One remarkable theory suggests that the content of popular children’s stories affects the level of

economic growth in the culture. McClelland (1961) suggested that the level of personal motivation within a

culture is an important determinant of economic productivity and that the stories told to children affect their

achievement motivation and, decades later, the economic productivity of the culture. He studied the stories

typically read to children in various cultures, analysing the story content to see whether the themes

expressed high or low achievement motivation and then correlated the achievement emphasis in these

stories with the economic growth (assessed by gross national product) 25 or 50 years later. Remarkably,

given all of the other factors that affect economic outcome, he was able to demonstrate a highly significant

correlation between economic growth and the content of children’s stories decades before. He then engaged

in various projects designed to raise the achievement motivation of children in underdeveloped countries,

and an important element of this was to select specific stories to be included in children’s readers.

A more contemporary analysis might suggest that the heroes and heroines of folk tales often display the

character strengths that have been recently identified within ‘positive psychology’ as key factors in the

achievement of authentic happiness and the ‘good life’. Stories can help to celebrate these strengths (Fox-

Eades, 2006).

The key messages within folk tales do not always relate to moral imperatives. In some cases a twist in

the tale reframes the situation portrayed within story so that our eyes are opened to a different way of seeing

things. Such stories sometimes mislead the listener into one way of seeing things and then produce a

sudden shock, surprise or amusement when the ‘truth’ of the matter is revealed. However, whatever meaning

may be inherent in the story and emphasised by the storyteller or context, it is the listener who is most active

in constructing the meaning found in the story.

The impact of storytelling

Listening is an active process that involves both the imagination and the making of meaning. The

positive educational effects of reading stories to young children have been well demonstrated, particularly

with regard to the effects on children’s language and cognitive development (Blake & Maiese, 2008; Fox,

1993) suggesting storytelling could be a foundation for literacy. However, additional benefits of storytelling

have also been postulated.

For example, it has been argued that oral storytelling has a considerable role to play in fostering

emotional and social development or ‘emotional literacy’ (Fox- Eades, 2006; Thomas & Killick, 2007).

Listening to stories can impact on the five pathways of emotional intelligence; awareness, self-regulation,

motivation, empathy and social competence. Engagement with stories, in all their many forms, can provide

an emotional ‘work-out’ for the mind that helps both children and adults to ‘attune’ with their feelings (Oatley,

1998). Indeed, stories might be ‘the natural language of feelings for children’ (Sunderland, 2000). Stories

educate people about the emotions, providing insight into human responses and providing a vocabulary for

emotions. Stories also portray different ways of coping with emotional situations and of coping with our own

and other people’s emotions. Stories can also directly provoke emotions in the audience, thus providing, in

some cases, an emotion laboratory ‘in the room’. For young children to hear a ‘scary’ story from a trusted

adult gives experience of intense feelings of anxiety and excitement, with a happy ending enabling resolution

that produces relief and a return to safety. Other stories stimulate the audience to anger, frustration or

sadness. Traumatic experiences can be portrayed directly or indirectly and metaphor and fantasy can be

powerfully used. Emotions can be experienced safely within the storytelling context, and the safety of the

THE TELLER, THE TALE AND THE TOLD

experience may be ensured by the presence of a trusted attachment figure. Research is needed to ascertain

if these benefits exist.

Hearing of the emotional responses of characters in the story can have profound effects in helping

children to develop an appreciation of ‘other minds’ and empathic skills. Oatley (2008) suggests that written

stories are simulations that can increase the audience’s understanding of the feelings and intentions of

others, adding considerably to the sophistication of the listener’s ‘theory of mind’. This effect may be

amplified in the process of live telling.

Another benefit is that repeated exposure to hearing stories will help to develop the listener’s

understanding of and use of narrative form (Haven, 2007). Appreciation of structure can lead to the ability to

recreate such structure. Thus by hearing stories children learn how to tell stories. This may be far more

important than it may at first sound. Even if a child never engages in formal storytelling, the ability to produce

a narrative is an essential social skill, because from an early age people are expected to be able to give well-

structured and coherent accounts of their experiences. Reporting on ‘what happened to me’ is a basic social

requirement, and the expectation is that such reports will include the basic elements of a story (context,

characters and action) and will be presented as a narrative following a chronological sequence.

Furthermore, it may be that some of the most important stories we ever tell are those that we tell about

ourselves to ourselves. We need to develop the capacity to relate ‘self’ or autobiographical narratives. Thus

we may organise our understanding largely in the form of narratives, and the capacity that we develop to

construct and manage narratives may reflect our exposure to formal and informal storytelling. The process of

being able to ‘tell our story’, to develop a narrative perhaps around a traumatic or other significant event,

enables us to organise our own experience and communicate it to others. Experience of storytelling,

particularly personal narratives, may help develop this skill.

Storytelling may also be a critical ‘attachment building behaviour’ utilising the building blocks of

intersubjectivity; joint attention, turn-taking and affect attunement (Engel, 1999). Therapists interested in

building attachments between children and carers increasingly call upon storytelling in their work. Dan

Hughes (2004) describes how a therapist uses the skills of the storyteller to develop affect attunement.

Lacher et al. (2005) describe how creating and telling stories helps build ‘narratives of attachment’ in adopted

children.

But there are many ways of calling upon this ‘ancient art’. Storytelling is being used more and more as

an educational methodology. Scientist turned storyteller Kendall Haven uses storytelling as a way of

engaging and interesting learners in a wide variety of subjects, especially science (Haven, 2007). He sees

not only the potential of stories to help students’ engagement and motivation but also benefits in terms of

memory and attention. Another use for stories is as a stimulus for inquiry to develop thinking skills. This

approach is an integral part of the ‘Philosophy for Children’ project (Fisher, 1996), which is also a vehicle for

developing emotional literacy skills in school settings and the use of stories especially to help develop an

emotional vocabulary and social skills.

In healthcare, storytelling and drama skills have been used to build confidence and communication skills

in people with acquired brain injury or to help value and recognition to people’s experience of recovery from

severe mental illness and cancer care. Storytelling is also being combined with technology. Digital

storytelling uses digital technology to help people tell their own stories. In the NHS ‘patient stories’ can be

used to help people gain a sense of the ‘journey’ they will experience or to help staff empathise and pay

more attention to the experience of service users. The ‘1000 Lives’ campaign (tinyurl.com/1000lives) uses

storytelling as a service improvement tool to prevent unnecessary deaths. Patients use storytelling skills to

record their experiences of healthcare. These ‘digital stories’ are used as a tool to help healthcare staff be

more aware of patients as people rather than just ‘conditions’, also to inspire and remind them of ‘good work’

and simple changes they can make that have great benefits for patient care. The stories can also be used to

inform the media and through them, the public, of service changes that are under way. Storytelling is also

being used in other organisational settings to develop brand identity and to foster both staff and customer

loyalty (Simmons, 2004). Stories may be an alternative, or an antidote, to presentations of quantitative data.

They can make such information much more meaningful to people.

THE TELLER, THE TALE AND THE TOLD

More than a sideshow

Much of what is speculated about the benefits of exposure to storytelling is based on the study of story-

reading. However, it might be that the gains of this ancient and technology-free method of communication

may enhance and amplify the benefits of reading and be worth psychological investigation. It has been said

that the art of oral storytelling has been lost to modern society through the rise of literacy and the electric

light. Now, the experience of hearing a story well told is an unfamiliar one for many. However, the art of

formal storytelling is currently enjoying something of a renaissance and is providing more and more adults

and children with a rich and joyful experience. And, apart from the world of the virtuoso storyteller, there is

the everyday storytelling in which we all participate because it is, quite simply, part of the way in which we all

function in our daily interactions with other people. Ultimately, storytelling may be much more than a

sideshow in the fairground of human interaction. Stories remind us of what it means to be human in all our

complexity, differences and diversity.

Steven Killick is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist in Cwm Taf NHS Trust, South

Wales stevekillick@hotmail.com

Neil Frude is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist in Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust neil.frude@ntlworld.com

THE TELLER, THE TALE AND THE TOLD

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