There are a lot of specific points I would like to take up on Pat Ryan's posting No18 but I don't want to get involved in another long posting so I will limit myself to the first half of his piece.
If you are saying Pat that storytelling is happening all of the time by most people, and to debate the specific nature of traditional storytelling is unhelpful to them, I would not agree with you. Louis Armstrong said something like - all singing is folk singing, at least I've never heard horses doing it. I don't think this helped Frankie Armstrong develop her artistry to the level she achieved today. She was indeed very very specific in the way that she examined every nuance of the singing of those from her own traditional culture and more lately beyond. It was only by being able to understand what they were doing was she able to apply it to herself.
We have to be specific not so that someone can set up some rules but to gain more understanding of the nature of traditional storytelling.
I cannot agree with you Pat about the teller's relationship with the audience but I think that is enough for the time being.