Storytelling Review of Literature
For hundreds of years, stories have been used to teach children about morality and ethics. Indeed, many of the same myths, legends and fairy tales have been handed down from generation to generation, remaining largely intact.
However, these myths also contain hidden meanings that illuminate the cultural or historical aspects of their origin.
The first part of this paper studies the literature examining hidden meanings, cultural norms and morals that are embedded in myths and fairy tales.
The second part of the paper looks at how these meanings and cultural norms get imbued and reproduced in the minds of their audience - primarily children.
Aside from serving as a vehicle for reproducing cultural norms, this paper looks at the psychological and social uses of storytelling. In the third part, this paper looks at how psychologists like Bruno Bettelheim maintain that storytelling can serve a therapeutic value for the individual. Finally, the paper studies literature concerning how myths also serve an ideological purpose and, through critical appropriation, how these stories could also have a subversive value.
Cultural Meanings
Theoretical Studies
Since this paper examines the transmission of cultural norms through stories, it becomes necessary to define what constitutes "culture" itself. In The Silent Language, Edward Hall (1973) defines culture as "the way of life of a people, for the sum of their learned behavior patterns, attitudes and material things" (20). As such, culture encompasses a wide body of a people's practices, behavior and beliefs. Furthermore, Hall maintains that though individual cultures may vary through time, people search for stability and continuity by locating parts of culture that remain constant. This is done through "identifying a common particule or element that can be found in every aspect of culture" (20).
One aspect common to all cultures is the aspect of mythology. In The Power of Myth, Joseph Campbell (1988) defines a myth as "stories about gods" (22). These stories, however, serve two distinct functions. Myths serve to explain natural phenomena and help people to locate their place within the natural order. Myths also serve a sociological purpose, by linking a person to a particular social group.
In Myth and Meaning, anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss (1979) believes that as the world undergoes rapid technological change, myths are no longer needed to explain natural phenomena. After all, modern science has served to colonize many aspects of human life, and many things that our ancestors had found mysterious and unknowable had been de-mystified and explained.
However, Levi-Strauss argues that not all explanations can be reduced to their smallest particles, the same way a piece of music is not reducible to its separate notes. In culture, the meanings are not necessarily linear or sequential. In addition to science, Levi-Strauss suggests that all cultures possess the same essential sophistication of thought. A culture's myths hide perceptions that are no longer needed by modern society or individuals. For example, most human societies no longer explain thunder as a result of the actions of gods.
However, myths get passed on, largely because they continue to hold meanings. Though these perceptions may no longer explain natural phenomena, Levi-Strauss argues that they could still be read as explanations of cultural phenomena.
Case Studies
Jack Zipes is the foremost authority on the social and cultural meanings of stories and fairy tales. Through an approach heavily influenced by Marxism, the Frankfurt School and Walter Benjamin, Zipes has written several works that tease out the social-cultural content of European fairy tales.
In The Brothers Grimm: From Enchanted Forests to the Modern World, Zipes (1988) examines the social conditions that served as a backdrop to the Grimms' stories. The early chapters focus on the lives of the brothers Grimm and the culture in which the original storytellers grew up. These biographies serve to illuminate aspects of their tales that may seem peculiar, such as a girl chosen over her brothers to be heir to the family's wealth.
Through this collection of essays, Zipes (1988) illustrates how fairy tales are, in a large part, shaped by society. To understand the tales, Zipes provides a guidebook through the enchanted forests of their creation.
In another example, Stanley Rosenman (2000) examines the social roots of the Pied Piper fable in his journal article "The Pied Piper of Hamelin: Folklore encounters malevolent cults." Rosenman traces the Pied Piper back to the medieval fairy age and suggests several social reasons for the story's dark resolution.
Rosenman looks at the various historical circumstances that may have contributed to the story.
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