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Jan. 21, 2005 Storytelling: Path to Reading, Writing, and Listening Cathy Spagnoli

Countless stories were told long before the first book was ever read. The art of storytelling - so old yet also new, and accessible to all - offers the personal contact and human rhythms needed in today's technological world. The words of the storyteller help us to know ourselves and our heritage, to learn of other cultures and times, to imagine and dream, to develop empathy, devotion, and so much more. Storytelling also leads to reading, since we speak and listen before we read and write. Thus, if a child hears tales told and retold before she tries to read, the language of story, the phrases and images of well told tales enter the heart of the child. These words then become a rich resource to be tapped while reading. Yet this simple progression from listening to reading has become harder of late in Japanese society. As extended families break up, both parents feel too busy to tell stories, while the older relatives, who perhaps enjoy telling tales, live elsewhere. Any family leisure time, which might earlier have been spent storytelling, is frequently passed in front of the television or the computer. A few lucky families might go to a library or book store storytelling, but the majority may not. Along with parents and children, teachers face the demands of a heavy syllabus and rigorous exams. Most have not explored the uses of storytelling as a teaching tool and thus rarely share the power of this art in their classrooms. Teachers and parents often don't realize that a wide range of stories can be told: true stories, traditional tales of all types, modern stories, and tales that they create as well. So it is time for those who love words, books, and the magic of the storyteller to encourage storytelling in this computer age. We must nourish this age-old, but modern art because a balance is needed in our technological times, and we know that storytelling provides this balance. Japan sits in the midst of the world's richest source of storytelling traditions. There are more ways to tell tales, and more tales to tell, in Asia than anywhere else. This treasure, this true Japanese and Asian wealth, must be respected and used in the homes, classrooms, everywhere... Storytellers tell a range of tales and come from a range of backgrounds. Certain people, no matter what their work, have a natural gift for spinning a tale. Yet everyone can, and should, tell something, whether a small true anecdote or a retold Rakugo tale! Parents can find little spaces - while in the train or bus, while cooking, or at the table - to share a small story. They can offer a break during homework times with a riddle tale to solve or a trickster story to enjoy. They can create simple bedtime tales or help children make books of family tales over school breaks. Older neighbors and visiting relatives can be encouraged to share stories and, perhaps, to tape record their tales - both traditional tales and true stories of their lives. Children love to hear their family story heritage; we need to remember and encourage this. When I asked students in Seattle to recall, overnight, as many true family tales as they could, one boy brought in a list of 130 family stories! His mother called me later to thank me for the nicest night her family had ever spent, saying, "We turned off the television and the computer, and just shared story after story after story." As a mother, I've raised my son on a diet of oral tales, from early bedtime tales where he was the hero or short funny stories when we needed relief, to problem tales for him to ponder as a teen. And he still asks for more! Teachers and staff in schools can also do much to promote telling. Stories make great attention getters and work well during breaks and transitions. Nothing perks up or motivates a class (on almost any subject) better than a good story. I was reminded of that one day when I went into a 5th grade class and the children started to clap. Rather pleased, I said, "Oh, you don't have to clap for me." "We're not," a child honestly replied. "We're clapping because now we miss math." I fooled them, however, and spent the whole period telling math tales. They loved the session, and used their wits constantly as they listened most intently. It was very easy afterwards to recommend books of problem tales to the much impressed teacher. Another teacher discovered how storytelling can gently discipline. To her noisy class, I told a Lao tale of a boy who stopped a compulsive talker by shooting mud balls into his mouth. A week later, she raved, "that story was magic. Now whenever someone begins to talk out of turn, I just say 'where are my mud balls?' and the talking stops at once." Storytelling belongs not only in schools and homes, but wherever humans gather. It should be encouraged in many settings, from bookstores, museums, and libraries to community, religious, and business groups. Storytelling festivals can be sponsored, storytelling camps and summer holiday programs organized. College and secondary students can be assigned to collect and share tales from their varied backgrounds, then share them in local schools. Storytelling over radio, television, and the Internet can be promoted and enjoyed. As we nurture the storyteller's art, we also strengthen the art of reading. The storyteller expands the listener's inner fund of stories and encourages a love of literature. Indeed, a well-traveled path leads from an oral tale to a written book. A young listener, eager for more of a tale just heard or hungry for related stories, will jump eagerly into a book. A tale from South Africa, or any culture, sends the listener to books with relevant details, images, and stories. A story of John Manjiro and others from history spurs the listener on to further research. Tales of the Indian trickster Tenali Raman can be compared to tales of Japanese wits and books found to help. Just as storytelling leads to reading, reading leads to storytelling. When a child or adult is inspired by a book or a story, she often wants to share it, to tell its story to others. Storytellers of all ages, from primary school students to professionals, often read eagerly and voraciously in their search for the right material to share. Storytelling also develops the crucial skill of listening: it makes vital the sounds of words and the spaces between them. Modern media, like television and cinema, offers only readymade visual images with loud soundtracks, thus weakening the ability to listen and to visualize images from words alone. But as the teller tells a tale, in human rhythms and not in sound bites, the child follows easily, adding his own imagery. Later, when the child reads a story, his inner voice tells the tale, and he listens to that voice as he visualizes. Good listening can lead to writing, too, since the storyteller often takes the role of story collector. As storytellers of varied ages and skills search for more stories, they often go to elders and to those who hold tales of a family, a neighborhood, a religion, a land. The storyteller-listener eagerly learns new tales in order to pass them on, whether they be from quiet, rural Mikawa-machi or Tokyo. The tales may later be told, or they may be written for private research or to send the story far and wide. As a frequent visitor to Japan, I have told tales to thousands of children; the response has always been so exciting. My friends, who are Japanese tellers, report the same. But most of them agree that so much more is needed. If we wish to nourish language arts, imagination, heritage, and more through the vital art of storytelling, then we must work together. Storytelling must be woven into the school day as a foundation, not as a frill. Teachers must be encouraged to tell more tales and student teachers should study storytelling seriously in the universities. Storytellers should be brought into the schools more regularly and to all grades, not just the young (high school students need stories just as much as kindergarteners). Storytelling in the homes must also be nurtured: schools and libraries need to convince parents that storytelling is one of the best tools for healthy child development, and then they must help parents develop their storytelling skills. There is much to do, but it is such exciting and rewarding work. For as the Vietnamese say, What is carved on rocks will disappear in time. What is told from mouth to mouth will live forever. Let us hear your comment at Let's Talk! ------------------------------------------ This article is a revision of the Indian Review of Books, 2001. (c) Cathy Spagnoli, 2004 http://www.nwlink.com/~spagnoli/

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