Thanks from a Yank: Tom Burger
I have only recently discovered the TRAD debate and today finished reading the last of it. This being a bit late to jump into the fray, I would simply like to thank all the participants for a stimulating and enlightening discussion. It was interesting to note that there was much more discussion about the merits of defining or not defining traditional storytelling than there was concerning any proposed definition. It was interesting because I have seen the same thing happen here in the United States over nearly the same topic.
During last year’s National Storytelling Conference, a general session was held for approximately 400 attendees to discuss and contribute to a definition of storytelling, not traditional or any other kind of storytelling, just "storytelling." The session took place in a large, hotel ballroom, with chairs arranged in rows of two columns facing the moderator’s platform. Microphone stands were placed near the front on either side and participants were invited to take turns speaking for up to two minutes each. (There’s one way to achieve brevity, Graham.)
Well, as you can imagine, substantial lines formed behind the microphones at either side of the room. Very few people went over their allotted two minutes, thankfully, and interestingly quite a bit can be said in that much time. This went on for approximately two hours. Quite a lot was said, and most of it about the merits of defining storytelling: how useful it would be versus how confining and troublesome it could become. There were many references to how other groups use and conceive of storytelling, but very little was expressed about how we should actually define it. In the end, I suppose we went away fairly convinced that while the attempt to define storytelling may have been valorous, it was ultimately unfeasible.
I seem to draw a similar conclusion from my perusal of the presently concluding TRAD debate. Much light has been shed on the contexts of traditional storytelling, but agreement seems unlikely on a definition that can transcend the interests of more than a few. But you can take comfort, ladies and gentlemen, in knowing that you are not alone in this.
Warmest Regards,Tom Burger, Houston, Texas, USA
tomburger@earthlink.net