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*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/18th_century 1709]
==Definitions==
*1: a teller of [[stories]]: as
:a : a relater of [[anecdotes]]
:b : a reciter of tales (as in a [[children]]'s [[library]])
:c : liar, fibber
:d : a [[writer]] of stories
==Description==
'''Storytelling''' is the conveying of [[events]] in [[words]], images and [[sounds]], often by [[improvisation]] or embellishment. Stories or [[narratives]] have been [[shared]] in every [[culture]] as a means of [[entertainment]], [[education]], cultural preservation and in order to instill [[moral]] [[values]]. Crucial elements of stories and storytelling include [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plot_(narrative) plot], characters and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_of_view_(literature) narrative point of view].

The earliest forms of storytelling were thought to have been primarily [[oral]] combined with [[gestures]] and [[expressions]]. In addition to being part of [[religious]] [[ritual]], rudimentary drawings scratched onto the walls of [[caves]] may have been forms of early storytelling for many of the ancient cultures. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Aboriginal_art Australian Aboriginal people painted symbols from stories on cave walls] as a means of helping the storyteller remember the [[story]]. The story was then told using a combination of [[oral]] narrative, [[music]], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_art rock art] and [[dance]]. Ephemeral media such as sand, leaves and the carved trunks of living trees have also been used to record stories in pictures or with [[writing]].

With the [[advent]] of [[writing]], the use of actual digit [[symbols]] to represent [[language]], and the use of stable, portable media, stories were recorded, [[transcribed]] and shared over wide regions of the world. Stories have been carved, scratched, painted, printed or inked onto wood or bamboo, ivory and other bones, pottery, clay tablets, stone, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm-leaf_manuscript palm-leaf books], skins (parchment), [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bark_cloth bark cloth], [[paper]], silk, canvas and other textiles, recorded on [[film]], and stored electronically in digital form. [[Complex]] forms of tattooing may also [[represent]] stories, with [[information]] about genealogy, affiliation and [[social status]].

[[Traditionally]], [[oral]] stories were committed to [[memory]] and then passed from [[generation]] to generation. However, in Western, literate societies, written and televised [[media]] has largely surpassed this method of communicating local, [[family]] and cultural histories. Oral storytelling remains the dominant [[medium]] of learning in many countries with low literacy rates.
==Emancipation of the story==
In [[oral]] [[traditions]], stories are kept alive by being re-told again and again. The [[material]] of any given story naturally undergoes several [[changes]] and [[adaptations]] during this [[process]]. When and where oral tradition was pushed back in favor of [[print]] media, the literary [[idea]] of the [[author]] as originator of a story's [[authoritative]] version changed people's [[perception]] of stories themselves. In the following centuries, stories tended to be seen as [[the]] work of [[individuals]], rather than a [[collective]] effort. Only recently, when a significant number of influential [[authors]] began questioning their own roles, the [[value]] of stories as such - independent of authorship - was again recognized. Literary critics such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Barthes Roland Barthes] even proclaimed the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_the_Author Death of the Author].[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storytelling]

[[Category: Languages and Literature]]