A Likely Story

America was an aural culture far longer than it has been a visual culture. In the days before movies, and cheap photography and printing, much of the country’s entertainment took place in stories told at hearthsides and around campfires, in taverns and at Sunday dinners.

The storytellers themselves relied on all sorts of devices to keep their listeners fascinated and entertained. Each storyteller had a repertoire of time and audience-tested yarns, tales whose themes and plots had been polished to a can’t-miss sheen. Although the characters were archetypes, the storytellers fleshed them out by making them speak and act like the people in the audience.

There were special stories “for adults only,” intended to titillate the grownups with promises of naughty narratives (and give children a rite of passage to aspire to). Ghost stories, designed for campfire recounting, were a simpler era’s version of “Alien” or a Magic Mountain thrill ride. For children, there were fairy tales and folklore with their subtle introductions to their culture’s grand moral and literary themes.

Of course storytellers had to hone their acting skills. The best among them could play several characters at a time, effortlessly shifting from the menacing vibrato of a Bluto-type villain to the sweet “who, me?” tones of an Olive Oyl. They could also make their audiences swear that they were hearing clanging swords and thundering skies.

A Tradition Lives On

The biggest tribute to that old storytelling tradition takes place every year in Jonesborough, in eastern Tennessee, site of the National Storytelling Festival. Started in 1973, the festival runs over a three-day span and offers more than 100 hours of storytelling by America’s best raconteurs.

This year’s festival will run Oct. 5-7 and feature several categories of storytelling, including folklore, cowboy poetry, ghost stories, tall tales and yarns, and stories gathered from different cultures. Festival-goers congregate under giant tents by day and under the stars at night to hear the stories.

There is also a series of special events that complement the festival. The “Midnight Cabaret” features more adult-themed stories while the “Yarnspinners’ Party” allows festival attendees to rub shoulders with the guest storytellers. The “Storytelling Store” offers tapes and books by storytellers and about the craft, as well as coverage of past festivals.

Each festival also features a special guest. Last year’s guest was folksinger Pete Seeger.