The Storytelling Arts

   The roots of great literature are found in the skills of the ancient storytellers long before people began to write language down. They were the first people to weave language into narratives and exploit its nuances and linguistic possibilities in order to thrill, scare, bring joy, sadness, excitement or feelings of melancholy to their audience using nothing more than the words at their disposal and their talents in arranging them. They learned to inspire the imaginations of others with just words and began a rich and ever popular art form which has evolved through many different mediums but in essence remained the same.
   The Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle set out the oldest surviving theory of dramatic story telling over 2000 thousand years ago in his book Poetics which is still studied today by aspiring writers.
   The oldest story written in the English language, sometime after the turn of the 8th century is the epic poem that tells the tale of Beowulf, a hero who defeats the creature Grendel. Although this story was recorded in writing, due to the expense of paper and employing scribes to write the words, storytelling remained an oral skill. By the time of Shakespeare the most advanced forms of stories had moved onto the stage and into the theatres and were played out and told by professional actors.
   It wasn't until the invention of printing that stories began to be associated with books and literature as we recognize it today. The novel was born in the 18th century and flourished throughout the 19th and into the 20th centuries as the most popular way to convey imaginative tales increasingly including more and more sophisticated techniques to tell the story and capture the minds of an ever growing readership. In the mid-19th century authors like Charles Dickens would write their novels in monthly installments with his many fans eagerly waiting for each new episode.
   Contemporary novels written in English are, of course, still very popular but the art of storytelling has found a new home in the cinema. However, future of storytelling could well be in the interactive media online and in computer games.

The idea of the The Hero's Journey comes from the works of Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung. Campbell proposed that there was a unifying 'monomyth', that was basically a single story, told across time and generations within thousands of different cultures throughout the history of humanity. Jung was also concerned with mythological archetypes, with their meanings and how they affected the psychology of people.

   Often referred to as 'the ninth art', comics are included as part of the storytelling genre here but they are closely linked to the Visual Arts because, much of a comic's appeal is in the artwork of the images. The visual styles are key to the enduring popularity of comics and they are the bridge between these arts and the storytelling arts.

The history of comics is rooted in two different quite cultures, those of Japan and America.
   In America, comics first became popular in the early newspapers but it was in the late 1930s that the characters we are all familiar with today were created. Comics from the 1930s-50s gave the world superheroes such as; Superman, Spiderman, Wonder Woman and Batman among many others.
   Comics produced in Japan are known as Manga and form a significant part of Japanese culture that can be traced back to before the 19th century. Manga is read by all age groups and features many genres including; action, adventure, romance, mystery, comedy, fantasy, science fiction (sci-fi) and many more.
   Comics may have lost some of their popularity in western cultures but they are still a multi-billion dollar a year industry in Japan and there is also a loyal following of manga in the Middle East and Europe.

   “It is only a novel... or, in short, only some work in which the greatest powers of the mind are displayed, in which the most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit and humour, are conveyed to the world in the best-chosen language”
― Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

    The history of the modern novel as we know it today can be traced back to the 18th century Europe but its roots go much further back than that, to the great works produced in ancient Greece by writers such as Homer with his epics Iliad and Odyssey. Early forms of the novel including Epic Poetry were part of Roman culture and examples can also be found from Japan, India, the Middle East and China where they flourished under the early printing techniques from the Song to the Ming Dynasty. In fact throughout history Chinese forms of the novel are comparable in importance to the great works produced using the English language.
   In the Middle Ages in Europe, Romances were the popular form of fiction. These were not romantic love stories as we might imagine today, but rather, fantastic and magical tales. By the end of the 18th century these Romances had the reputation of being nothing more than cheap entertainment for immature young ladies. The Novels of the 19th century evolved from these romances but with much more emphasis on realism and intellectual examination of society and people in society.
   Into the 20th century, and the novel became a symbol of freedom of thought and expression. Novels were burnt by the tyrannical Nazis prior to WWII and it was through novels that the world learned about Soviet concentration camps in Siberia, and it was through novels that many could articulate their opposition to historical events such as the Vietnam war.
   The novel is still a very popular art form well into the 21st century with millions of books sold every year and giving the world new characters such as Harry Potter.

20th Century Novels

19th Century Novels

   If novels were the most popular form of storytelling in the 19th century then it was certainly overtaken by cinema in the 20th. The history of cinema has been driven by and influenced by technological advances. With each new advance the actual level of storytelling has been diminished, giving way to the new technological novelty on display. But once the novelty has worn off the artistry has returned and once again, character development and the plotting of the story become the most important part of making a film once again.
   The very first movies didn't have interesting plots, as the first audiences were in awe simply by the people moving around on the screen. But it didn't take long for silent movies to become a sophisticated medium for telling stories and some truly great movies were produced.
   With the arrival of 'talkies' in the late 1920's much of the quality was again lost as audiences were simply happy to hear their favourite movie stars speaking for the first time. Soon however, writers and directors learned how to use dialogue effectively for progressing and improving the plot and develop the characters for feature length movies and it wasn't long before the best directors were producing great stories once again.
   This pattern was to be repeated again with the arrival of colour, and then later again with the arrival of CGI (Computer Generated Images) and yet again with the first 3D films.
   Cinema's little sibling, Television, has also grown dramatically in popularity but as an art form it has remained in the shadow of its big brother so far. But this could all change. As Hollywood continually looks to play it safe, preferring to produce movie sequels or prequels to try and guarantee box office success, TV has been producing immensely popular, new and innovative drama for some years now and may yet overtake cinema as the most important form of visual storytelling. Or maybe, just maybe, interactive gaming will evolve and become more important than both.