Storytelling has been an integral part of human race since time immemorial. People from ancient civilisations drew images and symbols inside caves, gigantic boulders and sometimes even on boughs to communicate, narrate events and also to share exciting experiences, and there were many in those days. As Homo sapiens evolved so did the ways and means of storytelling. Innumerable races and dynasties emerged and perished but the culture of storytelling continued to thrive in various forms.
Evolution of storytelling –
1. Sign language – The beginning. Humans used hand gestures to convey their thoughts, experiences and unusual events.
2. Symbols and drawings – Exploited to mark important dates, seasons, natural and unnatural phenomenon and narrate stories.
3. Didactic tales on clay tablets ( For educational purpose. It also contained moral instruction ).
4. Shadow and String puppet.
5. Plays – Storytelling through performance ( Enactment ).
6. Print books.
7. Radio & Television.
8. Ebooks ( Internet ).
Even the genres evolved over centuries. While in the early days, storytelling was generally based on personal experiences, fantasies and events related to daily life it has gradually matured, imbibing subjects such as mythology, religion, history, culture, etc.
Somewhere during the transition from sign language to other mediums, humans began developing sounds and scripts to pass information quickly and authoritatively. Gradually it became the only avenue for an array of chores such as communication, collaboration, and of course narrating tales.
Today, storytelling is mostly exploited for entertainment. However, there was a time when it offered meaningful messages, moral instructions, wisdom and love for nature. A perfect example would be Aesop’s Fables. That it makes our society cohesive and provides freedom of expression, nurtures creativity are some of the crucial and exciting by-products.
Incidentally, a story takes birth from three essential elements – Plot, character/s and POV.
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