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| 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.
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.
