About Oral Storytelling

Oral storytelling has always existed and yet, it is eternally new. It is ancient, but has been a trend in the Western world since the 1980’s. We do not know the age of the stories. An Egyptian story, documented 2000 years BCE, was told in Sweden during the 20th century.

 

In Western Africa, people gathered around the fire at night, telling stories about the happenings of the day and week. The elderly then told stories of what things had been like during the childhoods of the young, and what had happened before they were born. As the night deepened, the stories would stretch further and further back in time. They would describe how animals were created and how the river came to be, and once the sun had begun to rise, they had reached the creation of mankind. The present had been linked to the past, and the individual to the common.

 

In Sweden up until the 19th century, stories were told when people gathered during long, dark winter nights by the fireplace and during celebrations tied to the collective work. The stories were told as the spinning wheel would turn, and as the men would carve sticks for raking. Men and women told stories to each other and the children listened at times just like today, even though the contents of the stories were intended for the adult ear. And so has the tradition of oral storytelling lived on for ages, and in all cultures until this day.

 

During the 20th century, the tradition of oral storytelling was about to become obsolete in our part of the world. The live meeting of teller and audience was at first replaced with the written word, and later on, with a technological kind of storytelling – movies, television, radio and finally computers and the internet. However, during the 1980’s, a new movement started to grow in Europe and Northern America. One became aware that the most primordial form of culture was about to go extinct. Therefore, the art of storytelling was revived in different places throughout the Western world. Old stories were found and new were created. In the case of Sweden, the art of storytelling mainly arrived as the Storytelling Festival of Ljungby started in the year of 1990.

 

It was no coincidence that it all began in the southern Swedish town of Ljungby. This used to be the home of some of our most popular storytellers during the 17th century, and it was here that great parts of the Swedish oral storytelling tradition were documented. Today, the art of storytelling in Sweden flourishes more than ever. Stories are told in schools and hospitals, in enterprises and prisons, in study circles and at storytelling cafes. Since a few years back, there are two international storytelling festivals taking place in Sweden: Sagobygdens Musik- & Berättarfestival (“The Music and Storytelling Festival of The Land of Legends Sweden”; previously known as Ljungby Berättarfestival / “The Storytelling Festival of Ljungby”) and Skellefteå Berättarfestival (“Skellefteå Storytelling Festival”). There are storytelling networks and associations all throughout the country, from Malmö in the south to Umeå in the north.

 

The art of storytelling continuously finds new ways. Word gets around of corporate storytelling, digital storytelling, storytelling for the purpose of healing, storytelling as an educational tool, and storytelling on stage. Storytelling competitions are arranged, and books are written on the art of storytelling. But most importantly, more and more people discover the fun, the excitement, the community, the adventure, the cries and the laughter of telling and listening to a story.