Download STORYTELLER THEATRE: ORAL LITERATURE MEETS

STORYTELLER THEATRE: ORAL LITERATURE MEETS PERFORMING CULTURE.
A MIDDLE EASTERN CASE
'I have always considered a theatre group as a multi-headed storyteller'.
Peter Brook
The storyteller who inspired Peter Brook in his „carpet show-like interpretation of the
Mahabharata not only played on his musical instrument, but also used it as a unique scenic
device to suggest a bowl, a sword, a mace, a river, an army or a monkey‟s tail1. The aim of
storytelling is not to imitate, as is the case in theatre, but to suggest. For the storyteller, the story
itself is like rewriting each epic as it evolves in your mind, not with the pen, but by the
physicality of his voice and body. This is one of the points at which oral literature meets the
performing arts.
The performance aspect of storytelling has been analysed and studied by such folklorists and
anthropologists as Roger Abrahams, Dennis Tedlock, Richard Bauman, Dell Hymes and Ruth
Finnegan. In their works they have concentrated on orality, context, the interactions between the
spectator and the artist, and those between the cultures of the audience and the storyteller and the
local habits and customs of storytelling.
Following these patterns, I would like to invite you to the Near and Middle Eastern
context, where the tradition of performing oral literary works has been cultivated through the
ages. In this paper, the Turkish traditional storyteller meddah (11-20.th. century., eulogist,
panegyrist) along with influencing his folk bard ashik (Tur.aşık), and his counterparts: the
traditional Persian teller of the “Book of Kings” (Shahname) from the 12th century Persian
naqqal and the Arabic eulogist maddah and kassas (teller reciting or reading texts ) evolves
from the religious storyteller and, in the process of gaining theatrical and dramatic elements,
becomes a one-man show.
1
Peter Brook, Shifting Point, Methuen, London, 1987, pp.162
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Storytellers not only entertained people, but also educated them and provided the
continuation of lore. The storyteller, in the process of creating the story, always had to be a
multi-skilled narrator. In addition to performing the text, he was the editor musannif , the copier
and rewriter müstensih of the story (both expressions from Ottoman Turkish). In medieval times,
the culture of that region, with its evolving background of epics, was a peculiar combination of
shamanism, Sufism and orthodox Islam. It is worth underlining that the Islamisation of the
Turkmen and other Turkic tribes, who came later to Asia Minor (in the 11th century), was
carried out by the Sufi communities, who first appeared in Central Asia in the 8th century.
Wandering bards and storytellers accompanied their tribes and armies. Their storytelling
sessions were composed of epics called (in Persian) destan or short prose pieces called hikaya
(Ar. tale, telling the tradition) or kissa (Ar. tale, to wander, to tell a tale, to follow, [contemporary
meaning even “novel”]). The stories were usually told in one meeting, especially during the
religious fast of the month of Ramadan when, after having fasted in the daytime, the nights
resembled a European carnival.
In the context of tale-telling, it is important to understand the duty of the storyteller. The
educative and didactic style still had to follow the rules of the art of orality. Thus, the hikaya
tradition has a specific language and many elements of oral performance, named after the
Biblicist of the theory of orality, Albert Bates Lord. Among these are formulaic expressions; the
process of memorising and using formulae, and stock phrases enabling the continuity of the epic
tradition.
Formulaic style
For the traditional oral performance the aspect of formulae is crucial. It is associated with
emotional reaction or with tense situations and covers the whole range of feelings, from mild
amusement and quiet satisfaction, to hot anger or desperate fear. The formula has a dynamic life;
it wanders from teller to teller, from genre to genre and sometimes between national borders. The
Turkish scholar folklorist Ilhan Başgöz mentions a very important formula 2: “The horse‟s hoof is
fast, the bard‟s tongue is quick”. This comes from a Turkish epic of the 15th century, the “Book
2
İlhan Başgöz, Formula in prose narrative hikâye, [in:] Turkish Folklore and Oral Literature, ed. Kemal Silay,
Indiana University Turkish Studies, Indiana, Bloomington 1998, pp. 130-150.
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of Dede Korkut”. In this traditional epic it is repeated three times. The formula explains that the
speed of the bard‟s narration should be the same as the speed of a horse running, as compared
with the slow-running events of real life. It is also important to mention that the formulaic phrase
can originate from proverbs, and vice versa. The mnemonic aspect of using formulae
strengthens the memory of a teller and builds up his craft. There are some supportive mnemonic
techniques for professionals. In theatre, we have the rehearsal process, but, in storytelling craft,
rehearsing consists of watching the master and repeating the stories; in some cases, like in the
Persian “shahname” tradition, it is the rewriting of the Book of an apprentice into his tumar
(Pers. tomar, prompt book)3.
Orality in literature
Proverbs, formulae and other units of oral composition have been preserved through the ages and
employed by literature. From the very beginning, written literature imitated the forms of oral
literature with its typical devices, cultivating a formal „mimeticism‟. This process contributed to
the strong, epic style of modern Turkish literature. Contemporary writers are fond of using
stylization and conducting a specific play between literature and orality, and vice versa.
Although playwrights are successful in epic theatre plays, Turkish dramatization has not been
very fruitful in recent decades.
In the very complex reality of the dying out of traditional orality some storytellers have
attempted to recreate the passage from oral traditional lore to the modern concept of literature. I
am honoured to be part of a group of scholars and artists called “Group Studnia O.” who are
working to combine the two concepts. For us, as people from the world of written literature,
there is also the possibility of communing with literature at a different level than that only gained
from reading. We refer to traditional storytelling techniques, not to reconstruct them, but to look
for the modern storyteller who can transmit the story from past to present, maintaining some
flavour of tradition. Every member of our Group runs their own individual activity and, first and
foremost, searches the repertoire, both in terms of artistic work and research.
3
Dedes Yorgos, Battalname (Turkish Sources), Sources of Oriental Languages and Literatures 33, Harvard
University, Cambridge Mass.1996., p.84.
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As a result of my research as a Turkologist and Orientalist I have explored different sources and
have found out that even the development of the repertoire of the different Near Middle Eastern
bards suggests the movement of orality towards theatre. The epics told by the Persian naqqal or
the Arabic rawi compared to the stories performed by the last meddahs of the XX century show
the domination of rhyming prose; the shahnamehan used poetry, the meddah from the Ottoman
period – prose, sometimes there is rhythmical prose in the Ottoman Turkish language, and the
last meddahs also used prose close to spoken language. This colloquial speech strengthened their
creative movement towards theatre, and enabled them to include more variation on the “fixed”
texts. This analysis can be confirmed by the long-lasting connection between the development of
acting, theatre and dramatic poetry, which have always remained close to one another.
Interpretation and dramatization of the story
If we accept that the attribute of a storyteller is a word, and the attribute of an actor is a gesture
and a word, so consequently it is impossible to deny that speaking is also gestural. One of the
manifestations of the syncretism of speech is its theatricality. This consists of the cooperation
between language code, with its supporting sub-codes, such as: gestural sub-codes (gestures,
mimic, movements, body position) and prosodic sub-codes (melody of speech, stress, vowel
length, tempo, pause, rhythm and colour). The words are the acts; they have a psychodynamic or
verbomotoric realisation of the oral text written into the memory of the body.
According to Richard Bauman "performance is a mode of language use, a way of speaking,
verbal art as spoken communication” 4. This approach highlights the interaction between artistry
and cultural expectations. As a practice of communication, „performance‟ is the process of
overlapping coincidental elements such as: where and how the performance takes place as an
actual event, how it is organised and prepared for, who is attending, how they are behaving and
what are their expectations; how the performers deliver the specific genre and how the audience
react to it.
4
Richard Bauman, Verbal Arts as Performance, Mass: Newbury House, Rowley 1977, s. 11 after: Ruth Finnegan,
Oral Traditions and the Verbal Arts: a Guide to Research Practices, Routledge, London 1992, p. 92. R. Bauman,
Performance in Folklore, Cultural Performances and Popular Entertainments: Communications – Centred HandBook, Oxford University Press, New York 1992, pp. 42−49.
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This is why the construction of a performance is so flexible, even though there are some fixed
points. Usually, the meddah begins his session by the recitation of a proverb or passage from a
religious text. He draws themes from moral concepts, based on which he goes on to construct his
parable. After the opening formula comes the preface, through which classical Ottoman poems
can be interspersed. The story itself consists of several separate scenes united to form a whole,
but the composition is weak, sometimes the only connection between scenes being the principal
characters. In the closing formula the meddah apologises to his audience for any mistakes of
speech he has made or any inaccuracy in his narration. The performance time usually lasts from
two to three hours.
The storyteller can also add a new dimension to the story by interpreting it. His interpretation
may impose upon the thematic organisation of the text. This consequently reshapes the structure
of the performance, avoiding any harm to the elements that are responsible for the performative
effect of the session. The live performance of the epic is the main feature of the genre of destan
(Pers. epic) and the written form of old destans reveals these performative aspects5..
The artistic effect of this effort is evaluated by the audience; there is no critic or reviewer‟s
opinion. The appreciation of the spectators takes into consideration the artist‟s narrative talent,
his sense of humour, parodic–imitative gift, originality within tradition, and general knowledge.
In the case of the singer of tales, such as the Turkish ashik, the audience‟s expectations are
higher, and they also evaluate the vocal, musical and instrumental talents of the performer. They
each use music and songs for different purposes. The heroes of ashiks‟ tales use dialogue in short
songs called türkü. However, the hero enters the story with a monologue song which presents
his character. The effect is lyrical rather than fictional. In storyteller theatre, instead of musical
stylisation there is an imitation of acting and a „decorated‟ epic narration. The reimbursement
for such an artist is applause, money and the loyalty of his audience.
Oral Performance Model
The other effort to „decorate‟ the storyline is the suspense of action that goes with the regulation
of tension, building up the contrast between the hero and the rest of the figures and the dramatic
5
P. N. Boratav, Halk Hikayeleri ve Halk Hikayeciliği, T. C. Kültür Bakanlığı, Tarih Vakfı Yayınları, Istanbul 2002,
pp 45.
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culmination at the end of the story6. Additionally, the storyteller uses retardations to keep up the
attention of the audience, as well as the typical techniques of The Arabian Nights, such as cutting
the story at the culminate point, and the use of a frame story.
The storyline in prose is also dramatized by the frequent use of verbs that reflect the action,
supported by preferable, dynamic and onomatopoeic verbs that maintain the rhythm of the
narration. Furthermore, this is supported by short sentences, exclamations, and expressions
addressing the audience. The narration is interwoven by the direct and indirect speech that is the
substitute of the theatrical role and allows it to pass from narration to dialogue.
The other device for underlining the sound of the word is the tekerleme, the riddle from folklore,
frequently told after the opening formula. The tekerleme is a delimiter that divides the beginning
from the rest of the story, allowing the listener to enter the world of fiction. The memory of the
storyteller has been fulfilled with a set of ready-made sentences. Some of them have the function
of “springboards”, helping to jump from plot to plot, or from one character to another or from
third-person narration to dialogue. To quote from theatrical vocabulary, this is like passing from
the acting identification of Konstantin Stanislawski to the distance of Bertold Brecht
(Verfremdung).
An inevitable part of Turkish storytelling is humour. Usually, the comedic situation is based on
a misunderstanding (quid pro quo) and on word play. In one of the traditional meddah stories the
servant misunderstands the instructions of his master and instead of bringing forty plates (Tur.
tabak), brings forty furriers (Arab. debag).
Improvisation
Somehow, the task of the traditional storyteller was to be a freelancer, but, at the beginning of
this form, after completing his religious duties of praising God, he mainly became the panegyrist,
working to order for various nobles. In this case, the gift of improvisation gained financial profit.
For every storyteller, his high oral competency was firmly connected with his social context,
with his “customer”. Also, when improvising, it was worth his remembering the best parts that
6
Shirley Brice Heath, Protean Shapes in Literacy Events: Ever- Shifting Oral and Literate Traditions, s. 384−470,
1988, From Spoken and Written Language: Exploring Orality and Literacy, Alex Publishing, Norwood 1982.
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resulted from this. These were composed of a stock of ready-made material for the future. The
text was performed and re-performed time and again. The verbal and non-verbal elements
created each version. Orality gave independence to every single story.
Digression and context
Another element that is supported by improvisation is digression. This is the interjection of the
narrator‟s individual context into the performance. He is not the actor on stage, who is supposed
to hide his personality, but the storyteller. No matter how much he is involved in the action or
identifies himself with the characters, he is still the storyteller. He uses the third person to narrate
and is never called by the same name as the story figure. Such a position allows him to use
digression, to share an individual remark in order to explain and instruct, to comment, criticise
and commemorate, or to self-reproach and confess. In research done by folklorist Basgoz, it was
revealed that digression was more frequently used by experienced and elderly storytellers, while
young narrators, who lacked the prestige of age, did not dare to express their personality by
excessive digression and avoided the disclosure of individual opinion that may not have been
shared by the audience7.
The influence of the audience‟s presence and their reactions appears not only in the number of
digressions but in the formulaic content of the story. According to the concept of Ruth Finnegan
we have different kinds of audience, for instance: "primary” and "secondary”. We can also
always have 'bystanders‟ with selective attention. This also influences the storyline.
An example of the use of digression to communicate the storyteller's own opinion, was given by
Yamamoto from the contemporary session of the Persian epic – “Shahname”. In the reality of the
Islamic Republic of Iran, according to strict social norms, Heroine Tahmine‟s attempts to seduce
the hero Rostam are not morally permitted. The storyteller justifies Tahmine‟s action by evoking
7
Başgöz İlhan, Turkish Folklore and Oral Literature, ed. Kemal Silay, Indiana University, Turkish Studies,
Bloomington, Indiana 1998, pp. 231-249.
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an earlier custom in which nothing was more important for a woman than to bear a valiant son
like Rostam8..
From orality to performance
In some places, the storyteller passes the borders of oral literature and becomes a performer of
orality. In Islamic culture, this is connected with the fact that dramatic representation has always
been discouraged. Dramatic narration and dramatic conflict (mostly prohibited by Islamic
thought) have somehow been replaced by a technique approved by orthodox Islam. The
characteristic feature of the Middle Eastern storyteller is the iconic gesture called taqlit ( in
Arabic, Tur. taklit), which means “imitation”. It has a few layers – the imitation of action in the
Aristotelian sense of the word, mimesis, which, in acting, means mimicry or gesture, in narration
means the imitation of content and form. It is worth remembering that the storytellers of the
Middle East, on their way to theatre, found the traces of ancient mime via Byzantine culture.
This is only one element of this complex synthesis. The environment in which Turkish popular
theatre developed contained the multi-cultural society of the Ottoman Empire, with its ethnic and
religious minorities, such as Jews and Armenians, and non-Sunni Muslim circles such as Shias
and Sufis. These non-Muslim influences contributed to the development of popular theatre.
The Role of Imitation
Imitation as a concept itself requires less or more similarity. Traditional epics, presented in front
of an audience coming from the oral tradition which the epic originates from, can be expected to
be almost the same. The main plot should not vary, but acceptable changes, never radical, can be
woven into it, with vocabulary and poetic musical decoration added. This variation can be
approved by the culture.
This is why the foundation of success in storytelling craft is fluency in the obligatory repertoire.
Keeping to the main plot is an essential. But other gifts are required as well: improvisation and a
command of the imagination. The storyteller can add episodes and descriptions. When he tells
the story he can concentrate on one particular character, developing it and adding his own
8
KumikoYamamoto, From Storytelling to Poetry. The Oral Background of the Persian Epics, PhD thesis, School of
Oriental and African Studies, University of London,2000, p. 57
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elements that are available at that very moment. This degree of freedom is allowed in the singing
and poetry section, using dialogue between characters, with some acting elements added. Even in
acting style, as mentioned above, approval is limited to imitation, and it derives from the strict
religious attitude towards impersonation. The character can be imitated, but any attempt to
embody human nature reflecting the power of God breaks the effect of illusion and alienation.
Those are the guardians of the „health‟ of the audience‟s imagination. The audience cannot
identify with superficial reality or with the deconstructed world. Their world view shouldn‟t be
contaminated by evil, and any possession of the souls of the believers is strictly banned. This
alienation effect is underlined by the episodic structure of the content of the performance.
Theatrical space
The lack of decoration and scenography has an alienating role to play; it provides distance.
However, for the storyteller, the audience and space is also a tool, as it is for an actor on the
stage. In the Middle East, settlements, usually in nomadic conditions, required temporary
arrangements. This created an "empty space," to quote from Peter Brook‟s expression, which
gave equal standing to actor and spectator alike, enabling interactions which made their relations
firm and provided them with a feeling of community. The role of the audience, and its
relationship with the teller is completely different from that of classical theatre. The spectator is a
“resonator” of the storytelling performance. However, for actual acoustic reasons, when a
performance is set in coffee shops, the storyteller or bard sits on a chair or any other type of
podium.
Poor theatre
Following the pattern set by Jerzy Grotowski, when considering theatre form, the storyteller
becomes a form of “poor theatre". He doesn‟t need any complex technical facilities, but in
several storytelling traditions, starting with aoidos in the ancient Greek tradition, the storyteller
has a cane. This probably stems from phallic cults. In meddah theatre, the stick or cane has a
connection with the musical instrument that has been used by singers of tales (Tur. ozan) and
ashiks (Tur. aşık). This points to the continuity of the two traditions: the folk singer of tales and
the storyteller. In both cases it is worth highlighting that the stick has been the main prop of the
shaman theatre of Central Asia, which is the ancestor of the performer in Turkish culture. And,
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up until today, the cane has been the emblem of magicians and jugglers in European magic
shows. Another prop of the meddah is the scarf, which can be both headgear and handkerchief.
The virtual lack of stage decoration is supplemented by the imagination of the audience. In the
past, their sensitivity to the words was completely different from that of the contemporary
spectator. The difference in expectations between the traditional and contemporary audience is
like the distinction between that of the oral and written mind, according to Walter Ong‟s concept.
In orality, the word itself has a physicality that can be best expressed by the Greek term epea
pteroenta or “winged words”. This frequent Homeric formula is used for the frozen metaphors
that are common for the teller and his audience. This is the other aspect of the equality between
the two. Within this common space, there occurs an aesthetic transaction between audience and
artist; and the different patterns of expectation of both sides creates the uniqueness of every
storytelling set.
Dynamic and energetic tribes would follow the rhythm of nomadic memory and the conditions of
life that necessitated the following: the preservation and continuity of traditions, the anonymous
character of authorship, soundness – the corporeal/physical nature of words at the level of the
narrative: rhythmical narration, dialogue and formulaic style9, and parody and imitation in acting
style; the arrangement of space into a circle, situationalism, organising the repertoire in cycles,
and homoeostasis; in theatrical convention - illusion and disillusion, in the construction of the
plot; the flexibility of a main plot interwoven by episodes. So, finally, we are faced with the
synthesis of several factors that have created a very specific case: the Near and Middle Eastern
storyteller.
Agnieszka Aysen Kaim, PhD
9
Jerzy Bartmiński, Opozycja ustności i literackości, (The oposition of orality against litteracy) pp. 430−434 [in:].
Antropologia słowa. Eds. G.Godlewski, A. Mencwel & R. Sulima. Warsaw: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu
Warszawskiego, 2003.
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Grupa Studnia O. Association, which is a pioneering group of storytellers in Poland, formed in
1997 in Warsaw. It regards the art of storytelling as instrumental to understanding other cultures
and draws on many narrative traditions and techniques in its storytelling practice and gives them
a contemporary twist. It treats the art of storytelling as an individual artistic work and connects it
with extensive animating and educational activity. It has organized the annual International
Festival of Storytelling Practices in Warsaw since 2006. The idea of the festival is to present the
art of storytelling in both the traditional and the contemporary perspective, to present the
diversity of contemporary sources of storytelling and the diversity of contemporary culture
where story plays a significant artistic, animating and integrating part. Among the partners for
the festival are Warsaw City Hall, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the Institute of
Polish Culture and Warsaw University. The Group Studnia O. consists of 9 people among whom
there are speakers of Polish, English, French, Lithuanian, Turkish and Persian languages.
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