The History of Storytelling

Storytellers have shaped our societies and our ways of thinking since before recorded history, back even before the days of cave painting. Every culture that exists or has been known to exist had a strong storytelling tradition, one all their own that shaped and was shaped by the people who told them, as well as the people who heard them…and told them again. Stories are used for entertainment, for teaching, for passing on old knowledge and wisdom.  Storytelling has a rich history, one we’d like to share with you.

Ca. 15000 BC - The Caves of Lascaux
At the turn of the 20th century, some French children made an incredible find in the Pyrenees Mountains – drawings of extinct animals in caves. The 17,000-year-old paintings on the walls of the Lascaux Caves are our earliest recorded evidence of storytelling, and since Lascaux we’ve found dozens of other examples.

2000 BC - The First Civilizations
Civilization arose many thousands of years after storytelling, with the development of agriculture and a more sedentary lifestyle. 4000 years ago, Egyptians wrote the first epic, Gilgamesh. In the East, Chinese and Indians were writing down ancient stories long after they were apparently first composed. Religious stories and myths were being told throughout Greece and Rome.  Everywhere in the world, it seemed, the art of storytelling was flourishing.

350-500 AD - The Dark Ages
The Dark Ages in Europe were not shared by the rest of the world. The Middle East, for instance, was experiencing a brilliant renaissance equivalent to any in history; and China and India were experiencing stable, growing cultures punctuated by periods of war with the Mongols and the same plagues that devastated Europe. During this time period, storytelling matured and changed, shaping cultures while being shaped by them.

1500’s - The New World
In the Americas, many stories were recorded by central American cultures in stone and on perishable mediums like hides and a form of paper. These were, unfortunately, destroyed by the Jesuits, who came to America determined to convert the natives to Christianity. Much of the cultures of the Aztecs, Mayans, and related societies were lost. Through pictograms and oral records, though, the stories of Native American cultures persevered.

Modern Time
Today, most of the industrialized world is peopled by literary cultures. Stories are mostly recounted in books, in movies and other film, and online. Only at home, the traditional root of stories, and at special festivals and a few other events do you find stories commonly told.  Stories are told today for a variety of reasons, such as teaching, entertainment, education or simply tradition.

Tomorrow
The cultural prominence of storytelling as an art form is transforming. Traditional storytelling is dying out, replaced by video, the Internet, mass-market books, radio, and other forms of new media. You can still experience oral storytelling at storytelling festivals, and there are many organizations throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe that promote storytelling and help to train new storytellers; but few people can make a living at it. Whatever happens, one thing is certain…storytelling will never die out.