Storytelling is something that (as I've already said) is difficult to define. I think that stories are anything that can make us lose sight of the real world. Because of this, I think it is extremely easy to be sucked into several different types of "stories". And by that, I mean stories that most people wouldn't consider stories. I believe anything from books to video games to social media websites can be considered stories. What story changes more frequently than the news feed on Facebook? Or the video game your nephew gets sucked into for up to 12 hours a day? In the book "Narrative Across Media: the Languages of Storytelling" it talks about the several definitions that have been given to storytelling. I found myself agreeing with parts of their definitions, but never with a whole definition. I think it is something very individual and depends on each persons perceptions. The stories can change, but they all accomplish the same things; making us lose sight of the world around us and being sucked into our Neverland's. Dreams are also stories that the brain can tell us. They can have nothing to do with our real life or they can be all of our hopes being dashed. Stories can be told orally or visually, by thinking or through the written word. Every book is a story no matter the genre. Each T.V. commercial, radio commercial, or billboard tells its own story. One billboard in the Salt Lake area gets your attention because it is a lime green background with the words "Your wife is so hot... Get your A.C. fixed". No matter what, your eyes will be caught by the bright colored background or the first phrase will grab your attention because it isn't something you see everyday. It tells its own short story and immediately your eyes are drawn to several possible alternatives to where this billboard could be going.
Storytelling is something that is definitely a thriving art. It will never die so long as humans are alive to continue the stories. The definition of storytelling could possible change, but it will never dye completely until the human race dies. Neverland is hidden inside each of us. It is a place we return to several hours every day and night. Each person has a different idea for what Neverland is like and where it is, but it is in each of our minds. It controls much of our "thoughtless" hours with simple daydreams and at night with complex imaginings. It is where we are sucked to during our ours of listening/reading/watching of stories. It is complex and lovely and scary. Neverland contains our worst nightmares as well as our best dreams. It is something that changes as we grow older and becomes (in ways) more complex. Neverland is somewhere I choose to go a lot whenever I have free time and can open a book or put a movie on to watch. I enjoy most of my time in Neverland and imagine that most other people enjoy their time there as well.
Jill gives the example of the billboard's tag line (see above blog entry). How is a tag line a story? How is _that_ particular tag line (which is also a punchline) a story? Why do we respond so strongly to the information implied and the confusion delivered? You might also want to look over at Jared's blog entry and my comment on it, for fun.
ReplyDeleteI like what you wrote about the billboard. Like the author mentioned in the book, the reader does so much of the work. Any information not provided is filled in with overactive imaginations. So it is with the billboard. It is hard to imagine how two short lines make a story, however, any information the reader needs to make those two lines into a story are provided by the imagination. We can picture a family sitting in a hot house, an annoyed wife. Each person will picture the story differently, but it does become a full story.
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