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The Wisdom of Nations
| Article
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10904 |
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BOOK WORLD
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| Issue
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5 / 1993 |
1,208 Words |
| Author
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Linda Osborne
Linda Osborne has taught contemporary literature at the
Smithsonian Institution and frequently reviews fiction. |
MORE BEST-LOVED STORIES TOLD AT THE NATIONAL STORYTELLING FESTIVAL
Selected by The National Association for the Preservation and Perpetuation of Storytelling
Jonesborough, Tenn.: The National Storytelling Press, 1992
223 pp., $19.95
Humans have the power of speech and the opposable thumb, but they are also the storytelling species. The urge to explain the mysteries of the universe, to teach and preserve culture, and to understand the mind and heart drives us to create tales that we can share with our children, our countrymen, and, in this time of interest in ethnic diversity, the world.
The National Association for the Preservation and Perpetuation of Storytelling (NAPPS) has been encouraging Americans to engage in the fine art of storytelling for twenty years. The thirty-nine tales in its second anthology of Best-Loved Stories are drawn from NAPPS' annual National Storytelling Festival, which attracts listeners and performers from the United States and abroad.
These stories represent traditions from Asia, Africa, and Europe, as well as from several regions and cultural groups in the United States. Some stories are ancient in origin, told in the manner of fairy and folk tales. Others create new characters who express homespun wit and wisdom or undertake humorous, exaggerated adventures. John Basinger's thirteen-year-old "Chester Behnke," for example, tries to prove himself a mighty hunter by stalking a squirrel. Although he "tested the wind, checked for cover, dropped down on his belly…just the way he'd read about in Field and Stream," he somehow fails to bag his game.
While one can enjoy the variety of settings and narrative styles of these stories, together they also speak a common language concerned with the aspirations, setbacks, hopes, and rewards that all people experience. They express the larger truth about what it means to be human. As storyteller Mara Capy observes, "When the events of our lives are shaped into stories, they can tough others and create communication in ways beyond explanation."
Comfort and joy
Capy's story, "Haydn's Sonata," is one of several in the collection inspired by contemporary rather than mythic or ancient events. It conveys the poignancy of an Israeli woman's
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