Falling Off The Hay Wagon: Others Pick Up the Future?

Kathy Hansen, over at the "A Storied Career Blog" made an excellent posting about the ideas of expressing story via technology. She quotes from both the Sundance film projects and the new "The Center for Future Storytelling" at MIT. I think it is worth your time to go read her blog post at this link. It is actually worth your time to read her posts on a regular basis, in my opinion.

Top of my head, visceral thoughts about this interesting post:

They're both off the mark, in my opinion. Oral storytelling, person to persons, is still the "mother of all communication." What is referred to as storytelling in the above examples isn't storytelling. The first is filmmaking- which uses stories. The second is MIT's look at technology to convey stories. Again, not storytelling.

In no way do I disparage either the Sundance or MIT projects. I think both are needed and they do and will do good works. However, we do a disservice to what storytelling truly is when we toss about the word "storytelling" so freely.

I contend that all of the people on these projects need as their base some solid training and experiences in creating and speaking stories- oral storytelling ("traditional narrative?") as it were.

Storytelling (as person to person) was here as the foundation long before technologies sought to harness story.

As one of the first "traditional narrative" storytellers to embrace technology via Storyteller.net, I am for the use of technology to convey story. I am against the concept that technology is needed to rescue storytelling. "Traditional narrative...has been drowned out" is not my daily experience in teaching, training and performing.

What has happened is that we who practice the art have allowed our advocacy of "traditional narrative" to be drowned out. I've come to recognize this as the "hay wagon" syndrome: a rose-colored-glasses approach that says the 1970's days of the storytelling revival were the purest and most genuine when stories were told from the back of the hay wagon in Tennessee.

Some of that failure to advocate also comes from the nature of storytellers to not embrace technology to promote the art. Some failure also comes from infighting of leadership of the national organizations, especially in the U.S.

Finally, I think you ask a valid question about "losing meaning." More than losing meaning, I think stories when presented solely via technology are losing the engagement of the audience. Watching a story happen on film or otherwise delivered via technology requires zero engagement on the part of the viewer. The viewer becomes passive, with the story and its images poured into the head.

As an example: "The Dark Knight," the Batman movie, wanted to talk about the nature of evil. Since it was on film, there was no place for me to engage in that conversation. The movie showed it all to me, made my decisions about images, tried to tell me when to be scared and when to be happy. I loved the movie, but I didn't need to be there for the one-way story to happen. I know now the opinion of the director about a story but was not part of the storytelling.

In "traditional storytelling" I very much need my audience to co-create with me. You can see my short reflection article "Listening Sideways" for a little more about adolescents as co-creator of story. The link is http://storyteller.net/articles/206 .

Kathy, you do a great job making links and conversation points in your blog. Thanks very much.


The official blog for K. Sean Buvala, storyteller and storytelling coach.

Carving Turnips for Halloween 2008

When I have the time, I like to stay with the old traditional idea of carving turnips and not pumpkins for Halloween. I had time this year.

Jack-O-Lanterns come from a traditional Irish legend using root vegetables instead of soft pumpkins.

Old Jack was a crab and generally nasty overall. If he could steal, he would steal instead of buy. If he could be lazy, he would be lazy instead of work. He would spirit away the money from the church collection plate and blame the boys sitting’ on either side of him. A nasty old man indeed, his heart as hard as the raw turnip, and his soul the color of burnt wood...

To carve turnips, we first needed to gather some turnips. It is hard to find large turnips in my local stores, so we use the rather simple variety you can find at the grocer.

Then, the tops of the turnips are lopped off to make a cap. Be forewarned, turnips are harder than potatoes, not soft like pumpkins. Generally, this is not a job for children, but with careful supervision, daughter #4 (aged 10) joined me.


Old Jack, when he grew very old, was visited by devil, to take him away to his death. After some smooth talking, Jack tricked the devil into climbing an apple tree to get Jack an apple, “for my one last pleasure on earth.” When the devil climbed the tree, Jack made crosses from the twigs and grasses and placed them at the bottom of the tree. Now trapped in the tree, the devil agreed to Jack’s conditions to be set free: The devil would never again try to take Jack away meaning that Jack would live forever.

After some time, Jack grew tired of living and made his way to the gates of heaven. Since he was so wicked and evil, God would not allow him in an sent him on to hell. The devil, remembering Jack’s trickery, told Jack that they had a bargain and that Jack would not even be allowed into hell itself. Jack pleaded, knowing that he would now be condemned to walk the earth forever…”

I sliced up the insides of the turnips with a sharp knife. Then, daughter and I scooped out the insides. Hard work that was. What pulp that didn’t hit the floor or flung out to hit the walls was saved in a big pot, to be boiled and eaten later. Yummy, if you cook them long enough and season them with garlic, lemon, salt and pepper.

Once the pulp is scooped out and we have developed new muscles, it’s time for the carving. There is much less space to work with on a turnip- so if you’re used to the large canvas to create on, this is the time to learn subtle interpretations to express your inner artist. Daughter created the middle carved turnip in the picture at the top of the post, drawing it first out on paper then taking the knife to the turnip. She said she wanted a turnip that had “eyelashes.”

With the face carved, we smoothed out the bottom of the inside of the turnip and added candles.


Jack asked the devil what he was going to do wandering the earth forever. He pleaded that his eyesight would fail and he would not even be able to see where he was walking. Hearing that plea, the devil picked up a burning ember and tossed it to Jack, telling him to use that to light his path. Jack returned to earth and stuck that ember into a stolen turnip he carved himself. And to this day, we carry these lit turnips around to remind us of the evil ways of the devil and Jack.


When night fell and the Treat Trickers descended on the neighborhodd, we lit the display of real jack-o-lanterns for all to see.

The official blog for K. Sean Buvala, storyteller and storytelling coach.