“The story is told eye to eye, mind to mind and heart to heart” – Scottish Traveller Proverb
2022 is Scotland’s Year of Stories as we celebrate stories inspired by, written, or created in Scotland.
TRACS, Scotland’s National Network for Traditional Arts and Culture, will be supporting the year of events, and here is their take on ‘stories’ and ‘storytelling’ –
What is storytelling?
Storytelling is one of our oldest artforms. It stimulates the imagination and builds a sense of community between tellers and listeners. Stories are everywhere – in newspapers, books, on TV and the internet. Everyday conversation is full of anecdotes and real life stories. Storytelling helps us understand our environment and personal experience.
Origins
Many older stories are originally traditional folktales. They represent the richness of oral patterns of telling and are the product of a community experience, as well as the art of individual storytellers. Historical stories, legends and contemporary stories can also be the subject of the storyteller’s tale, and they too embody a strong element of community or collective experience. The emphasis of traditional storytelling is as much on the telling as the story itself. Stories are recreated by the teller at each telling and passed on through generations.
The Scottish Storytelling Centre will also be involved. They say “We are delighted to be part of Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022 with a series of live events called Figures of Speech in partnership with Edinburgh City of Literature. From May-Dec 2022 we will explore some of Scotland’s greatest stories with newly commissioned artistic responses to challenge and engage the texts we know so well”. Keep up to date with details by visiting their Facebook page.
Here at the Voice we will keep an eye out for stories in, of and around Arran to share each month. This issue we have included part of the classic introduction to the island from the The Book of Arran (vol 2), edited by W. M. McKenzie in 1914. If readers have any stories and would like to send them in, we would be delighted to hear from you! Please get in touch at info@voiceforarran.com
Stories are a vital part of Scotland’s culture and every community has a different tale to tell. Shared stories, whether spoken, written, sung or filmed are what give a sense of place, history and belonging. For more information see also the Visit Scotland website .