My grandfather was a master storyteller. While he was telling, he would become a giant, a fairy, a phoenix, a prince, and he would skillfully draw us into the fairytale world. Although I do not describe myself as a storyteller, I can say that I am good at collecting stories. Being so fond of our own tales is a legacy that I have borrowed from the family.
Recently, while we were looking at the television screen blankly, a friend of mine said unexpectedly about a scene of the series we watched: “These are all from lack of education.” “If what you call education is studying at university, you are thinking wrongly. Education begins in the family. Even we have been watching the series with blank eyes, without saying a word, since I came here. In how many homes do you think the situation is like this right now? How many children are hypnotically numb by keeping their eyes on their tablets, or how many mothers are buried in that series like us, and how many fathers are zapping through sports channels? They do not communicate with each other, but the best education is the one that is carried out with the proper communication. “
We assume that we live in the age of communication, yet miscommunication is the biggest disease of this age. It was much healthier for people to socialize when there was no television, internet, or even telephone. They would gather in the house of the best storyteller in the neighborhood or the village, and after three or five conversations, they would listen to the storyteller with interest. It was not appropriate to go to the house of the storyteller empty-handed. Neighbors would bring whatever food they had, adding color, harmony, and taste to the night.
It is not so easy to convince the storyteller to tell a tale. “Is it easy to get the storyteller to start telling a story? The storyteller would show coyness as much as possible, and all listeners would do everything to get the person to start telling the story. Some of them exaggerate, some of them delve into details, some sit like a cat that has spilled milk, some row against the current, some talk about this and that, and finally, our storyteller decides to tell a story. Eflatun Cem Guney, who says, “Now the storyteller runs at full speed, honey flows out of his/her mouth, and his/her tongue adds cream on it”, underlines how valuable storytelling is.
Storytelling is an ancient tradition. Storytellers may have assumed the biggest role in transmitting and spreading the oral cultural heritage. The importance of storytelling and the mission that storytellers undertake has found a respectable place in the development of not only our culture but also all societies.
Storytelling is a tradition that has been continued since ancient times and we encounter it in every part of the world. Before the invention of writing, the most important task of storytellers was to inform society about wars, significant achievements, and great losses. One of the oldest ways of influencing society has always been “storytelling”. The roots of storytelling in our culture are found in Shamanism, and stories have been told since those times to heal humans, to remind them of their existence, and to create a common time and space.
In ancient Turkish tradition, storytellers did not work at a job or on the field and led their lives on telling stories and receiving food in exchange from the listeners. In the Dede Korkut stories, we frequently see storytelling ending with a feast to which Dee Korkut is invited. Although there is no definite information regarding the identity of Dede Korkut, the person who is named as Dede Korkut, Dedem Korkut, sometimes as Dede Sultan, and Korkut Ata in the foreword of the writing titled Kitab-i Dede Korkut is a Turkish ancestor. In addition, along with the tradition of storytelling blended with Shamanism, the number of folk poets who recited poems with their saz in the public, in armies, and at the border lines in the 12th century was increasing day by day. The heroic events experienced in these centuries were the main form of the poems recited, and stories told.
Why does a storyteller tell a story?
Stories are a powerful tool for transferring tradition. They are told to remind people of their roots, to establish a connection with the sacred things, and to preserve this connection. They are also told to transmit societal rules, to keep social life standing, to narrate justice and ethics, and to get people to feel them.
Whatever is needed to keep society together is added or removed. One feature of the Anatolian stories is that they reflect the cultural transmission carried by the Silk Road and the imbibed form of the totality of these cultures. Of course, symbolic representations are present in the story. This is the way of narrating stories with the imbibed and refined form of previous cultures.
Storytellers also narrate stories to have entertainment, to get joy, and to experience the feeling of being together. Storytelling has always been appreciated and respected as it blends society, improves human relations, and transmits the feeling of ethics through the moral of stories.
Storytelling is an invaluable talent. A story does not narrate only one person, but the whole society, and those who come to listen feel that they are part of a whole. Storytelling is therefore important.
Stories that used to be told to transfer traditions and to ensure the continuation of life in some way have now been replaced with a different phenomenon. Now, having something to say and having a story to tell are good and strong reasons for being a storyteller.
The modern storyteller has not grown up in oral culture as traditional storytellers did. As they are born into a written culture, they have access to stories from every tradition and culture and tell them by blending them with their own value judgements.
The reason for the existence of stories is not to provide therapy by itself. They are told to bring society and people together and reinforce friendship with a feeling of social responsibility.
Listeners return to their homes by getting what they are supposed to from the story. The story provides a cure to those who seek a remedy in the story.
The reason why stories have remained popular to date is that they bring society together and make them a whole. Who knows..? Maybe, the thing that we need the most as individuals of the communication age who cannot communicate.
