Celebrating the Country of China

Diaochan
One of the Four Great
Beauties of China

This is the seventh in my series, highlighting the rich diversity of folktales, fairy tales, legends, and myths from around the world. My hope is that this will make it easier for you to find new and unique tales to add to your repertoire, and in the process, we will learn more about our global neighbors.

Since the Olympics began in Beijing a few days ago I thought it made sense to highlight China this time around. The country of China is divided into thirty-one provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions. I encourage you to conduct further research on the specific region and/or culture behind the stories. I also offer some curriculum and crafts resources, with articles for additional reading on the beautiful country of China.

At the end of this blog, you will find links to my previous journeys to Africa, India, Germany, Russia, Scotland, and Turkey. I hope you find something useful and fun to add to your storytelling work or classroom.

STORIES

The Ancestor of Tea
http://tinyurl.com/gudo3vz

The Blue Rose – The tenth story in the book by Marie L. Shedlock.
http://tinyurl.com/jdua2ud

The Butterfly Lovers
https://tinyurl.com/ybvybqdz

The Clever Wife 
http://tinyurl.com/d7d8clp 

The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl
https://www.nspirement.com/2021/08/12/the-cowherd-and-the-weaver-girl.html

The Discovery of Salt
https://tinyurl.com/s3s75zt

The Dragon Princess
https://www.worldoftales.com/Asian_folktales/Chinese_Folktale_60.html#gsc.tab=0

The Golden Beetle or Why Dog Hates Cat
http://tinyurl.com/krxq898

Grandmother Tiger
https://chinesefolktales.blogspot.com/2018/06/grand-auntie-tiger-earliest-recorded.html

How the Moon Became Beautiful
https://archive.org/details/goldenpathbooka01stevgoog

How Three Heroes Came By Their Deaths Because of Two Peaches
https://tinyurl.com/y2h74kr4

The Ladle of the Moon
https://www.worldoftales.com/Asian_folktales/Chinese_Folktale_34.html#gsc.tab=0

The Ladle That Fell From the Moon
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/54734/54734-h/54734-h.htm#Page_404

The Lady Who Lives on the Moon
https://worldstories.org.uk/reader/the-lady-who-lives-on-the-moon/english/274

The Magic Brocade
http://www.aaronshep.com/stories/056.html

The Nodding Tiger
http://tinyurl.com/y8jxean5

The Old Woman and the Tiger
https://www.jefftk.com/p/the-old-woman-and-the-tiger

The Princess Kwan-Yin
https://www.worldoftales.com/Asian_folktales/Chinese_Folktale_9.html#gsc.tab=0

The Queen Mother of the West
https://tinyurl.com/yxmeqhld

The Snake and Frog
https://www.yourchineseastrology.com/zodiac/story/snake.htm

The Story of Niu Land and Zhi Nu
https://worldstories.org.uk/reader/the-story-of-niu-lang-and-zhi-nu/english/448

The Talking Fish
https://www.worldoftales.com/Asian_folktales/Chinese_Folktale_5.html#gsc.tab=0

The Two Jugglers
https://tinyurl.com/y3l5eauu

BOOKS

15 Engaging Children’s Books About China
https://teachingwithchildrensbooks.com/books-about-china/

20 of the Best Books Promoting Chinese Culture for Children
https://childrenslibrarylady.com/books-chinese-culture-kids/

CRAFTS

25 Outstanding Olympic Crafts for Kids to Make
https://artsycraftsymom.com/11-easy-olympic-crafts-for-kids/

Activity Crafts – Nineteen Chinese crafts for a variety of ages.
https://www.activityvillage.co.uk/china-crafts

Happy Toddler Playtime: The Best 30 Chinese New Year Activities and Crafts for Kids in 2022
https://happytoddlerplaytime.com/chinese-lunar-new-year-activities-crafts-for-kids/

CURRICULUM

Lions, Dragons, and Nian: Animals of the Chinese New Year - Wonderfully inclusive lesson plan on the Chinese Spring Festival and eastern and western dragons associated with the Chinese New Year.
https://tinyurl.com/k3un6ycs 

Smithsonian Institute – Timeline of Chinese History, Art, and Culture – Timelines, lesson plans, maps, and more. You can explore by Theme, Dynasty, or Object.
https://tinyurl.com/mr2pxtsb

STORY COLLECTIONS

Chinese Fables and Folk Stories by Mary Hayes Davis, Chow-Leung, published in 1908. http://tinyurl.com/yda28q4

The Chinese Fairy Book by Dr. R. Wilhelm, 1921. Seventy-four stories of saints, magicians, ghost stories, and more.
https://tinyurl.com/osadn3h

Chinese Folklore -Short Stories for Children
http://tinyurl.com/6rdsb92

Chinese Legends; Or, The Porcelain Tower by Thomas Henry Sealy, 1848.
https://archive.org/details/chineselegendso00sealgoog/page/n6/mode/2up?view=theater

Chinese Tea Stories - A site brewing with interesting folktales from China. https://www.teasenz.com/chinese-tea/tag/tea-stories.html

Chinese Wonder Book - Fifteen stories from Norman Hinsdale Pitman, 1919.
https://archive.org/details/chinesewonderboo00pitm2

Myths and Legends of China by E.T.C. Werner – Myths of water, fire, the stars, fox legends, and so much more.
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/15250

SOMETHING EXTRA

Chinese Tales - Stories associated with festivals, war, love, myths, Buddhist’s tales and more.
https://pages.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/chin/ChStories.html

Top Ten Chinese Myths
https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2016/feb/08/top-10-chinese-myths

ADDITIONAL CULTURAL RESOURCES

Celebrating the Continent of Africa
http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2021/01/celebrating-continent-of-africa.html

Celebrating the Country of Germany
http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2021/02/celebrating-country-of-germany.html

Celebrating the Country of India
http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2021/01/celebrate-country-of-india.html

Celebrating the Country of Russia
http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2021/03/celebrating-country-of-russia.html

Celebrating the Country of Scotland
http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2021/04/celebrating-country-of-scotland.html

Celebrating the Country of Turkey
https://karenchace.blogspot.com/2017/11/celebrating-country-of-turkey.html

Please note, websites change at a rapid pace and weblinks may change or break without notice. I cannot be responsible for redirected or broken links. At the time of this posting all links were in working order. Thank you for understanding.

 

Karen Chace 2022 ©

This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission, please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I appreciate your support and personal integrity.

 

Storytelling In the News III

New From Afar
Alfred Stevens, 1860's

In February of 2021 I was asked to take over the Storytelling It’s News column for the National Storytelling Network's newsletter. Below are some of the articles I researched through the year. Since there are so many, I broke it up into three posts, this is the third and final one from 2021. You will find a link to the previous two blogs in the series at the end of this post.

I hope you find something interesting to read, and perhaps some new tidbits to add to your storytelling and presentations.

Teaching Us Wonder: Turkey embarks on cultural mission to preserve its folktales
“The oral folktales of the Anatolian plateau are a remarkable blend of storytelling motifs and traditions…” Now, an academic project is collecting and indexing stories for future generations.
https://tinyurl.com/2p9avcua

Telling Stories of Slavery, One Person at a Time
The new exhibition in Amsterdam reconstructs the personal history to counter the wider and less discussed involvement of the Netherlands in the international trade of slave people during the colonial era.
https://tinyurl.com/yyzstdpr

The woman who coined the term 'fairy tale' risked prison to write coded messages of rebellion
“Marie-Catherine d'Aulnoy — who'd been married off at 15 to an abusive man three decades her elder — slipped messages of resistance into her popular stories, risking jail in the process. D'Aulnoy lived in a punishing patriarchy: women couldn't work or inherit money and were forbidden from marrying for love. Through her work, she showed an alternative. "She subversively wrote against some of the cultural norms for women at the time…”
https://tinyurl.com/yfvrc7c4

This Hans Christian Anderson Museum Asks You to Step Into a Fairy Tale
“It’s not a historical museum,” Henrik Lübker, the museum’s creative director says, “It’s more an existential museum.” The museum is designed “to echo the sensibility of a fairy tale writer who rarely offered his audience simple lessons.” When complete the building will include 60,000 square feet and the gardens will be an additional 75,000 square feet. There will be labyrinthine hedges and wooden pavilions that will merge nature and architecture. “It’s kind of like a universe where nothing is quite as it seems,” Lübker says. “Everything you thought you knew can be experienced anew.”
https://tinyurl.com/2p86ftr4

UK Researcher gives Arunachal Pradesh's folk tales an animation push
“The 'Stories of our Ancestors' is a project of the North Eastern Hill University based in Shillong, Meghalaya to research and document the oral storytelling traditions of the Wancho of Arunachal Pradesh and the Tangkhul community of Manipur… 'Stories of Our Ancestors' that seeks to document, preserve and present before the world outside through animation, a strong form of visual media.”
https://tinyurl.com/fek6pk7c

Vancouver Chinatown Storytelling Centre shines light on Chinese Canadian legacies 
“What did Vancouver’s Chinatown look like during its heyday? What was everyday life like for early Chinese Canadians? What contributions did previous generations of Chinese immigrants make to Canadian society, and are their legacies still apparent to this day?... With the opening of the Chinatown Storytelling Centre (CSC) at 168 East Pender Street in the core of Chinatown this weekend, there is now a permanent home to preserve and share these stories.”
https://tinyurl.com/2p86du3a

Walking storyteller begins historic trek through China’s heartland
“For more than eight years, I have trailed the first human beings who roamed out of Africa during the Stone Age…I will traverse at least 10 of its provinces. I will inch from the subtropical forests of Myanmar to the subarctic snows of southern Siberia. The route stretches about 3,600 miles, incorporating at least seven million footsteps, and migrates through 5,000 years of recorded lives. I’ll pace off the footsteps of ghosts.”
https://tinyurl.com/3bujz654

West Africa’s oral history griots tell us a more complete story than traditional post-colonial narratives
“The last few years have witnessed a growing recognition of oral histories in Western academies. With more authors, filmmakers, and artists from around the world highlighting the rich oral histories of West Africa, the traditions of passing knowledge through generations has invited a moment of change within wider Western establishments.”
https://tinyurl.com/yc4s3khb

Where Archaeology and Oral Tradition Coexist
“One night, while socializing in a house in Larihairu village, a younger community member asked me what I knew of the past. I replied that, as an archaeologist, I hoped to investigate human history using the materials people left behind. He replied, “You only know about the human story, but we know about the mythical beings and spiritual beings.”
https://tinyurl.com/y86r3u5e

Why Folktales Are Inspiring New Conversations
Nothing binds people better than stories, and folklore has been making and holding these connections for centuries. Today, as human-wildlife interactions escalate, and experts of all hues acknowledge that this multifaceted issue could do with more approaches than one, folklore could play an important part. A growing body of research has been stressing the need to understand how people sustain complex and diverse connections with local wildlife – especially through folktales and narratives.”
https://tinyurl.com/2p8t2538

Why It’s Important To Tell Ghost Stories During A Pandemic
“One might ask what telling ghost stories has to do with Covid, or why one would want to hear potentially macabre and spine-chilling tales of hauntings, spirits and Hawaii cryptids during a such a serious time as a pandemic. But, as anyone who has ever listened to Kapanui's stories knows, his storytelling is didactic at its deepest levels and is really about a common set of living themes rather than just ghosts…Humanity's best stories are always those that teach values, and Kapanui's stories reminded Hawaii in the middle of the pandemic that life is a precious gift, that family should be cherished because our time is so short, and that we have a certain responsibility to one another.”
https://tinyurl.com/9ztecbna

Why Medicine Needs Storytellers
“While working at Stanford for 11 years on the frontlines of a top lung transplant program, I often had a plotline running in my head. I didn’t know the narrative’s exact format, but I knew there was a story to tell.”
https://tinyurl.com/2p883sjj

Why studying arts like acting or dance can better equip business students for the post-COVID world
"Business students are more likely to be found in a financial accounting lecture or an organisational change dynamics tutorial than learning about storytelling. Yet storytelling serves as a powerful tool for communication both inside and outside organisations. Narratives enable companies to develop their own personas and for brands to forge customer relationships."|
https://tinyurl.com/yc7efkab

SOMETHING EXTRA

The links below will take you to the two previous posts with many more interesting articles about storytelling.

Storytelling In the News I 
http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2021/12/storytelling-in-news-i.html

Storytelling In the News II
http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2022/01/storytelling-in-news-ii.html

 

Please note, websites change at a rapid pace and weblinks may change or break without notice. I cannot be responsible for redirected or broken links.  At the time of this posting all links were in working order. Thank you for understanding.

 

Karen Chace 2022 ©

This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission, please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity.

Stories of Sensational Soups!

Soup
William-Adolph Bouguereau
1825-1905

"Let Omar sing of wine and bread,
But I prefer fine soup instead."
Arab poet, replying to Omar Khayyam

January is National Soup Month and who doesn’t love soup! Soup is as old as cooking, dating back to 20,000 BC. I grew up in the city of New Bedford, which has a rich, cultural food history thanks to the thousands of Portuguese families who immigrated here centuries ago to work in the whaling industry. They brought their amazing recipes with them, including kale soup, which is now a staple in many homes. You will see Kale Soup, on most restaurant menus, as well as New England Clam Chowder or seafood chowder (a rich, creamy soup). In the summer there are even chowder festivals around New England.

“Every culture had its version of soup. From the French Onion to the Russian Borscht, Spanish Gazpacho, New England Chowder, Chinese Won Ton, Campbell’s tomato, Japanese miso, and Italian Minestrone, every soup had its unique flavour regarding its place of origin.”
https://soupmakerguide.co.uk/soup-through-the-ages-the-history-of-soup/

Just like the story of  Stone Soup I have added together some folktales about soup, a dash of activities and crafts, seasoned with some activities, and a few extra items to spice it up! Enjoy!

The above information was gathered from: (This site is now defunct as of November, 2023)
https://soupmakerguide.co.uk/soup-through-the-ages-the-history-of-soup/

STORIES

All-Kinds-Of-Fur – Germany
https://sites.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm065.html

Chicken Soup – Russia
https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/fall-2007/chicken-soup

Crossing the Bridge Noodles - China
https://wildchina.com/2013/08/crossing-the-bridge-noodles/

The Emperor and the Cook: The Story of Bird’s Nest Soup - China
http://soupsong.com/sbirdnes.html

The Guest - Inuit
https://www.worldoftales.com/Native_American_folktales/Eskimo_folktale_11.html#gsc.tab=0

Hot Soup, Cold Hands - Turkey
https://voetica.com/voetica.php?collection=4&poet=706&poem=3443

The Legend of Issun-boshi – Japan
https://www.gov-online.go.jp/eng/publicity/book/hlj/html/201408/201408_09_en.html

The Old Man and His Grandson – Germany
http://www.authorama.com/grimms-fairy-tales-27.html

Sliced Sickle Soup – Mongolia
https://www.kidelight.com/2021/02/folk-tale-from-mongolia-sliced-sickle.html

Soup from a Sausage Skewer – Hans Christian Andersen
https://www.worldoftales.com/fairy_tales/Hans_Christian_Andersen/Andersen_fairy_tale_36.html#gsc.tab=0

Soup of the Soup – Sufi
https://www.learningtogive.org/resources/soup-soup

The Stolen Soup Aroma – West Africa
http://www.allfolktales.com/wafrica/stolen_soup_aroma.php

The Story of Salt – China
https://archive.gosanangelo.com/news/scene/tell-me-a-story-the-story-of-salt-a-chinese-folktale-ep-883035808-353680851.html/

Stone Soup – European (There are many variants from Russia, Sweden, Belgium, England, and France.)
https://tinyurl.com/yz724w4s

BOOKS

10 Story Books for Kids About Soup
https://food.innerchildfun.com/2013/01/10-story-books-for-kids-about-soup.html

Best Kids’ Books About Soup
https://bookroo.com/explore/books/topics/soups

CRAFTS AND ACTIVITIES

20 Recycled Tin Can Crafts
https://artsycraftsymom.com/recycled-tin-can-crafts/

20 Water Sensory Soup Ideas for Kids
https://www.andnextcomesl.com/2015/04/water-sensory-play-ideas-for-kids.html

Dltk-teach.com – Lots of activities here connected to the story Stone Soup, coloring pages, puzzles, word ladders, crafts and more.
https://dltk-teach.com/fables/stonesoup/index.htm

Fairy Soup – Backyard Sensory Activity for Toddlers and Preschoolers
https://happyhooligans.ca/fairy-soup/

CURRICULUM

Agriculture in the Classroom – Lesson plan based on the picture book Who Grew My Soup for grades K – 2. If you don’t have the book, not to worry, there is a link to a read aloud video.
https://agclassroom.org/matrix/lesson/547/

Learning to Give – Lesson plan based on the folktale, Stone Soup.
https://www.learningtogive.org/units/philanthropic-behavior/class-soup

Making Stone Soup
https://elementarynest.com/stone-soup/


RECIPES

30 Best Soup Recipes
https://themodernproper.com/30-best-soup-recipes

SOMETHING EXTRA

Children’s Board Game from Peaceable Kingdom: Stone Soup
https://tinyurl.com/bdfctmvd

History of the Stone Soup Folktales from 1720 to Now
https://stonesoup.com/about-the-childrens-art-foundation-and-stone-soup-magazine/history-of-the-stone-soup-story-from-1720-to-now/

 

 

Please note, websites change at a rapid pace and weblinks may change or break without notice. I cannot be responsible for redirected or broken links. At the time of this posting all links were in working order. Thank you for understanding.

 

Karen Chace 2022 ©

This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission, please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I appreciate your support and personal integrity.

 

Storytelling In the News II

News From Afar
Alfred Stevens, 1860

In February of 2021 I was asked to take over the Storytelling It’s News column for the National Storytelling Network's newsletter. Below are some of the articles I researched through 2021. Since there are so many, I have broken it up into three posts. This is the second of three and my first post for the 2022 New Year. You will find a link to the first blog in the series at the end of the blog.

I hope you find something interesting to read, and perhaps some new tidbits to add to your storytelling and presentations.

How Storytelling Can Help Build An Innovation Culture

When people hear stories all their senses are engaged. Facts and data are easier to retain when presented in story form. Stories also create connections between people in a way that can motivate us to act. When trying to change people’s behaviours around innovation, using stories can be a powerful way to inspire confidence. 

https://tinyurl.com/2p8mhy92

 

Irelands Little Known Mermaid Saint
“Lí Ban’s story dates from 6th century Ireland and has been preserved not only in medieval writings but also in the oral tradition of scéalaíocht (storytelling) passed on from generation to generation.”
https://tinyurl.com/4823jt88

La Llorona: Folklore, Spirits, Colonialism, and Power

“Gloria Duerte has discussed how tales of spirits similar to La Llorona have cropped up in folklore and myths across world history. A similar spirit emerged in sixteenth-century Philippines; fifteenth-century Germany had tales of the White Woman; and there are many beings from across European culture which attack children or men…As a result, it is not out of the question that La Llorona was a combination of indigenous and European tales. She also exhibits signs of another key marker of Mexican identity – Malintzin.”
https://tinyurl.com/mv7yc437

 

Middle Ages Merlin manuscript found in Bristol University library
“Seven hand-written fragments were found by the University of Bristol's special collections librarian. Specialists analysing the pieces said they contained "subtle but significant" differences from the traditional story.”
https://tinyurl.com/y9kmamb6

Native American Artist Rico Worl Designs U.S. Postage Stamp
Rico Lanáat’ Worl, Alaskan artist, is the first member of the Tlingit tribe to design a U.S. postal stamp. Raven Story depicting raven stealing the stars. “I wanted to illustrate a moment of drama in a traditional Tlingit story.” He hopes it will inspire others to learn more about the Tlingit people and their culture.
https://tinyurl.com/2p98ed5h

Non-Profit Organization helps Latinas have their voices heard through storytelling
“One year ago, nine women came together to brainstorm a way to share the unheard voices of Latinas in their community and share what it means to be Latina in today’s world…We are creating a book by telling our stories, to inspire other women and the vision that we have our communities around the world to connect us and also be a catalyst for unity,” said Luz María Villanueva, founder and president of LWP. Villanueva says storytelling is part of who she is as a Latina because she is reminded of how her aunts, grandfather and mother would share stories with her and how they affected her. She wants to continue this tradition with stories that are not just hers but from strangers she meets, because, she adds, everyone has a story to tell.”
https://tinyurl.com/e5ccxvbe

People Synchronize Heart Rates While Listening Attentively to Stories

“There’s a lot of literature demonstrating that people synchronize their physiology with each other. But the premise is that somehow, you’re interacting and physically present the same place,” says co-senior author Lucas Parra, a professor at City College of New York. “What we have found is that the phenomenon is much broader, and that simply following a story and processing stimulus will cause similar fluctuations in people’s heart rates. It’s the cognitive function that drives your heart rate up or down… “It’s not about emotions, but about being engaged and attentive, and thinking about what will happen next.”
https://tinyurl.com/yck5y9nc

 

PREWRITE Invites Storytellers to Invest in the Future of Storytelling
“Prewrite helps anyone build great stories or improve existing ones. The app separates the development of a story from the process of "writing" one, so you're never faced with a "blank page." It offers an intuitive and visual process and acts as a repository for story ideas.”
https://tinyurl.com/umsfrhmx

The Psychology of What Makes a Great Story
“Stories,” Neil Gaiman asserted in his wonderful lecture on what makes stories last, “are genuinely symbiotic organisms that we live with, that allow human beings to advance.” But what is the natural selection of these organisms — what makes the ones that endure fit for survival? What, in other words, makes a great story?”
https://tinyurl.com/yw5855nr

Seanchaí: The storytelling keepers of Ireland's rich folklore heritage
“In ancient Celtic society, bards held a position of esteem, second only to kings. Their stories and songs “were often the only historical record.”  Through the years Bards evolved into seanchaís’ or storytellers who carried those stories from town to town, bringing the stories from ancient days into modern times.
https://tinyurl.com/45y739nj6s7t

Sixkiller records 1,000 episode of Cherokee radio show
“Each week for the past 17 years, radio show host Dennis Sixkiller has shared with listeners the Cherokee language through song and stories…Sixkiller, a first-language speaker, took over for the original host, David Scott, in 2004, expanded the show’s 30-minute length and added more variety. Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said Sixkiller “has become one of our most respected and impactful fluent Cherokee speakers.”
https://tinyurl.com/3see6s7t

Spirit of Acadiana: Preserving Our Treasured Stories
“Raconteur, by the way, is French for ‘a person who excels in telling stories"’ And that's what Olivia, her husband Josh and a team of writers have done for about four-and-a-half years: chronicling life stories, sometimes of people who are very near the end of their lives.”
https://tinyurl.com/2p9a2d6s

The Stories We Love Make Us Who We Are
We know, when we hear these tales, that even though they are “unreal,” because carpets do not fly and witches in gingerbread houses do not exist, they are also “real,” because they are about real things: love, hatred, fear, power, bravery, cowardice, death. They simply arrive at the real by a different route.
https://tinyurl.com/h85andyr

Story Walks in the Natural World
“The revival of live oral storytelling often goes hand in hand with ethical values of sustainability. Respect for nature as the source of wealth for humans and respect for species in their own right lies deep in Indigenous stories. The renaissance of storytelling comes as our practical knowledge of sustainability weakens. However, the double resource of story walks strengthens creative telling while re-envisioning our place in nature.”
https://tinyurl.com/ycx898z3

SOMETHING EXTRA 

Storytelling In the News I – This was the first blog in the series. You will find many more interesting articles here.
http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2021/12/storytelling-in-news-i.html

 

Please note, websites change at a rapid pace and weblinks may change or break without notice. I cannot be responsible for redirected or broken links.  At the time of this posting all links were in working order. Thank you for understanding.

 

Karen Chace 2022 ©

This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission, please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity.

 

Storytelling In the News I

New From Afar
Alfred Stevens, 1860

In February of 2021 I was asked to take over the Storytelling It’s News column for the National Storytelling Network's newsletter. Below are some of the articles I researched through 2021. Since there are so many, I have broken it up into three posts. This is the first of three.

I hope you find something interesting to read, and perhaps some new tidbits to add to your storytelling.

 A farmer and his magical field: How fairies have ‘kept the land sacred in Ireland’

“Farming in Kilconnell for the last 40 years, Noone has gained attention for his supposed connection to members of what some may believe to just be mythology… “I have the porthole to the fairy world, where the blackthorn meets the whitethorn.” 
https://tinyurl.com/2p96bd9h

A Marrakech Tale
“Hajj Ahmed Ezzarghani has been telling stories for over five decades. Now in his 70s, the master storyteller has retired from the chaos of Marrakech’s famous square, Jemaa el-Fna. He finds new purpose in teaching young apprentices the skills of the ancient art form.” There is also a very interesting twenty-five-minute video of Hajj teaching his apprentices and their first public performance in the square.
https://tinyurl.com/ycx3hvad

African-American folklore inspires meeting of the minds
Henry Louis “Skip” Gates Jr. and Maria Tatar, Harvard scholars have co-authored “The Annotated African American Folktales,” that “illuminates and celebrates a narrative spirit both intimate and expansive…” The Harvard Gazette offers this wonderful article, a conversation with Gates and Tatar as they explain how storytelling motifs are woven through many cultures and the important messages they convey.
https://tinyurl.com/bdh2bh33

Ancient Aboriginal Storytelling Turns Digital

“The kids from Western Australia's remote Pilbara region have amassed quite a body of work. For the past 10 years they've been working hard, spending hundreds of hours in a digital lab in Roebourne, or Ieramugadu. They've been making music, films, podcasts, and even an award-winning interactive digital comic. Now they've created a learning platform, to share their stories with primary school students and teachers around Australia.”
https://tinyurl.com/ycksv462

Animation-led storytelling drives bold vision for new Scotch whisky brand Fable
“The storytelling part is very important to us. I think the Scottish and Irish are renowned as great storytellers, and we wanted to bring a piece of that to the whisky market. We have these great remote parts of Scotland, and we chose a place called Clanyard Bay, which is on the Southwest corner of the country, to be the central element in our story. In summary we are matching great tasting whisky with an interesting and mythical story about this part of the world.”
https://tinyurl.com/4t2vmapb 

Can Storytelling Catalyze Culture Change
“Storytelling has always been a way to transmit culture. Why else would our ancestors gather around a fire to tell stories, to pass down traditions, to impart knowledge to younger generations? But what if we could use stories to drive culture change by shifting the UN Refugee Agency’s (UNHCR) mindset from one that prioritizes hierarchy to one that places just as much value in the organization’s diverse workforce? A team at UNHCR believes that one way to do that may be to let staff at every level tell their own stories.”
https://tinyurl.com/mvm5jebx

Carlsbad company offering scary stories on the beach
“A Carlsbad-based company, Beach Genie, which provides customers with a pampered beach day experience, is now offering year-round scary storytelling events on the beach in time for the Halloween season…The Walkers partnered with professional storyteller Marilyn McPhie, the president of the Storytellers of San Diego and Pacific Region Director for the National Storytelling Network, in the hopes of elevating beachgoers’ experience…In preparation for Christmas, the company has Santa Claus join a holiday bonfire party on the beach for 90 minutes before “flying back to the North Pole.”
https://tinyurl.com/2p858src

Choctaw Cultural Center to open this week
“Throughout the Cultural Center – indoors and outdoors – Choctaw tribal members have the opportunity to teach, learn and actively participate in the Choctaw culture. Activities like gathering for special presentations and Choctaw films, participating in the Choctaw tradition of oral storytelling or playing in a demonstration stickball game, all help keep the Choctaw spirit alive.”
https://tinyurl.com/2p94wsee

Eco Warriors wins Youth4Nature Award in environmental awareness through storytelling

“Leadership of the group used the power of words carefully crafted to arouse interest and sustain suspense as they told childhood stories. It is a highly participatory exercise which ensures that members who are predominantly students interact with the storyteller throughout the process.”
https://tinyurl.com/ycksn26k

The Folktale Resurgence
“When places and features of the landscape are tied to old stories, knowing and remembering those old stories as we walk through the land can weave us into its history, connecting us to the ancestral voices, helping to establish enduring bonds between individuals and the natural world around them – whether that be animals, plants, or features like mountains and rocks. They connect us to land and show us how to engage with it in a deeper way.”
https://tinyurl.com/2p8szknm

Forgotten Women of Grimms’ Fairy Tales

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were real people, not mythical figures… Contrary to what many readers assumed, the brothers did not write the tales. The tales were a group effort that required communal scholarship and work by multiple contributors…more than half the tales had a woman’s hand in them. The women served as fairy tale “think tanks.”
https://tinyurl.com/2p88xfk9

How Indigenous Oral Tradition Is Guiding Archaeology and Uncovering Climate History in Alaska
In south-central Alaska a chief named Łtaxda’x (EL-tax-da) once owned “a dish hewn from the horn of a giant moose.” When he died, his brothers fought over this ceremonial platter of the Raven clan. As the legend continues, one of the brothers who lost the battle led some of the people away from their ancestral home. Aron Crowell, director of the Alaska division of the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center, conducted scientific research revealing “that the migration story of the Tlingit ancestors is essentially true.”
https://tinyurl.com/3mk2udtm

How Nupur Aggarwal, the storyteller, 'storifies' lessons to make them so much more fun
“Nupur, who has been associated with Bengaluru-based Storywallahs, an organisation that has made telling stories their business…What we essentially do is storify concepts from the curriculum and then handhold them through the process of consistently using the technique of storytelling in the classroom,"
https://tinyurl.com/2p98nkb5

How Stories Connect And Persuade Us: Unleashing the Brain Power of Narrative

“When you listen to a story, whatever your age, you're transported mentally to another time and place.” Research has shown that while listening to a has proven that A growing body of brain science offers even more insight into what's behind these experiences.”
https://tinyurl.com/yc4e6m3y

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Karen Chace 2021 ©

This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission, please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I appreciate your support and personal integrity.