fandomhigh | Literature, Class 3: Period 3, Thursday, January 22

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Literature, Class 3: Period 3, Thursday, January 22

"Good morning, class," Miss Bennet said, as she removed her gloves and scarf and stomped the snow from her boots. "It is quite good of you all to come here, considering the quite hazardous conditions outside."

Glancing around the room, she noticed the quite unexpected fireplace, and the mugs of hot cocoa. "It would seem that the island is attempting to apologize for the intrusion," she smiled. "Very well. Who am I to stand against the roaring warmth of a fire? Please fetch a mug for yourself and follow me."

When they were all comfortably seated in a semi-circle around the fireplace, she continued. "We had plans for another discussion entirely today, but perhaps now is a good time to speak of storytelling, instead. All literature has its roots in this ancient practice, where folk would gather around a fireplace and tell tales to one another. The constellations in the sky above were shapes suggested by mythology. Homer's tales of Troy were part of an oral tradition, extending back generations before anyone thought to put pen to paper and record them permanently. A good storyteller can keep his audience's attention. A good storyteller might also embellish, might tell the story differently each time, depending on the particular audience before him. Storytelling is more fluid than a tale set permanently on paper could ever hope to be."

"Therefore," she said, taking a sip of her cocoa, "I should like to discuss storytelling, today. How it differs from such structured things as novels, plays, and the television that seems so prevalent in this time-period. What forms of storytelling each of you are familiar with. Why it is that we turn to stories to make sense of events that happened. And then, if all of you are willing to participate, I believe I should like for us to try our hand at that noble art."

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Does your culture/world have a history of storytelling? What are some of the ways in which storytelling differs from the more rigid counterparts of literature and television? What traits should a good storyteller possess? How might you adjust a story, depending on the audience?

(Please feel free to ping one another in any chaotic sort of fashion.)

Edited 2009-01-22 19:34 (UTC)

"In my country, LOTS of people are gifted at storytelling," Agnes answered. "During the winter, there's little else to do at night. It's certainly a lot more interactive than literature -- you can't yell at a book to tell your favorite story, or throw a biscuit at it when it's too drunk to do it properly."

She smirked a little. "As for adjusting a story... I have a feeling the stories become much more... interesting when there aren't any women or children present, but I haven't any hard evidence."

Miss Bennet laughed. "You also can't suggest that that story is far too dull, or that the ending is depressing, and request adaptations," she agreed. "It's certainly a very good way to pass the time. And I believe I agree with your suspicions."

"Although those adaptations aren't always for the best," Agnes pointed out, with a smile. "It's difficult for the hero to avenge his family's murder when the young children keep insisting that nobody should die."

"That does raise an interesting point," Miss Bennet noted. "How writing something via consensus does, perhaps, compromise the story. An author should be mindful of his audience, but one cannot please all audiences at once, or there will be no story."

"There's a very strong oral tradition in Ireland," Ronan began. "It's how the oldest stories were passed down. It extends to modern wizardry, as well -- there's a lot of memorisation in the way that Irish wizards do things, moreso than a lot of other Earth-based wizardries. This comes out of the old druidic traditions, the oral histories, and how the knowledge of the world was passed on from druid to druid through storytelling."

Harper had a really confused look on her face. When Ronan was done talking, she leaned over and whispered, "Wait a minute. I don't get the part about modern wizardry."

"What? Oh," Ronan said. "I'm a wizard. From Ireland. A lot of our wizardry is shaped by the old ways, that's all, whereas places like the States go about it a bit differently."

There may have been a grumbling thought about, "Books? Honestly?" But at least they weren't iPods.

Edited 2009-01-22 22:48 (UTC)

"You're a wizard?" asked Harper, raising an eyebrow.

"... Yes?" Ronan replied. "Do I need to prove it somehow?"

"I think if you make a claim like that, you're going to have to back it up somehow," said Harper. "My mom and grandma told my stories and stuff about witches and wizards, but none of that stuff was real. It was all fantasy."

Ronan shrugged. "Okay," he said. He held up one hand, palm up, and it was barely a twist of thought inside his head to set a small ball of light hovering above it, bouncing slightly in an absent breeze.

Harper stared. "That can't be real. It's more likely a trick of light or something."

Unfortunately, Harper had a stubborn streak.

Ronan just blinked. "How long have you been in Fandom now?"

"Just since the beginning of the term," said Harper. "Wait a minute... is this like that squirrel thing everyone told me about?"

"You haven't wondered where the fireplaces came from?" Ronan asked. "Or about the fact that there are wizards, aliens, witches... Powers alone know what else attending this school?"

"I... haven't come across anything yet that didn't have a rational explanation," replied Harper.

"... I'd like to see your rational explanation for the fireplaces."

Harper opened her mouth... but nothing came out. She was at a loss for words.

Finally, she managed to squeak, "Magic?"

Ronan snapped his hand closed, dismissing the light at the same time. "Exactly," he said, with a grin. "There's a lot more here than you're used to."

"And so, storytelling was not just entertainment, but a way to pass history and important lessons down from one generation to the next," she nodded. "One wonders how storytelling's tendency towards a fluid narrative and not a fixed one might have altered the details."

"It does, sometimes," Ronan said, "but certainly part of the druidic tradition is word-for-word memorisation. In some ways, I suppose, it's less storytelling than it is..." He groped for a way to describe it. "I guess it has more to do with balladry, in a way?"

"I suppose my world is full of stories of the Ear-er, World-that-Was," Inara said, hastily correcting her slip. "They change depending on the point of the story--they can either point out how much more civilized it was, or how much more violent, or whichever suits the teller's purpose. It's very fluid. A good storyteller? Well, I suppose he or she would have to be animated and engaged in telling the story and watching his or her audience for their reactions. Plus, they'd have to believe the story they were telling, wouldn't they? Not that it was true, necessarily, but that it could be?"

"Do you believe that society was more civilized, or more violent?" Miss Bennet asked, curiosity piqued. "That's a very interesting point, that the storyteller must commit to the story, in some ways. If he cannot suspend his disbelief, it is hard to imagine anyone else being able to do so. It keeps him from veering off into implausible territory and ruining the reality for everyone else."

Inara smiled. This question she could answer based on her own experiences. "I believe that in some ways it is more civilized, but in other ways, it is more violent. The disparity between the classes doesn't seem to be as wide."

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Literature, Class 3: Period 3, Thursday, January 22

Discussion: The Art of Storytelling [LIT-3]

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