My family gathered together a few weekends ago to celebrate after a tough year. We told many stories and I am sure many tall tales. My mother and uncles told stories from their childhood. We heard these stories many, many times, but we continued to laugh. The stories connected us to relatives no longer here. It gave a sense of who we are. Also, we acknowledged how far we have come. The younger children in my family listened and laughed at the stories. The stories taught them about great grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins they will never met. According to Salman Rushdie becoming a member of a family requires learning the family’s stories. When I first read Rushdie’s beliefs, I did not agree with him. As I remembered my family’s cookout, the familiar stories gave us a common denominator.
The young men of the Sudan seem caught between two worlds. The world they live in and world they left behind. They want to use what they have gained from their new world to solve the problems of the world they left behind. I admire their understanding of the importance of education. They had an amazing sense of perseverance. They found urgency in preserving the stories and language of their culture. Yet, they know they must tell another story in different media in order to find help for their birth country.
The men continue to talk to each other and form bonds. They have created a community out of a cultural need. Yet, they admit it is not the same because they are not being taught by the elders nor do they have elders to teach them. After all is said and done, all cultures must tell their story to the younger members in order to continue the culture. I believe it something the American culture is losing because of all of the technologies that keep us busy and engrossed.
Zandra Hunt
Comments (4)
Zandra,
As I read this article I also longed for a more simple time when we would gather around the fireplace or kitchen table to share stories from our past and it makes me a little emotional to think that my children may not experience their grandparents the way I experienced mine. But I think too that this new technology will become what we make of it. When my children were small I could send updates to relatives in Florida in a flash through pictures and videos. We would make video calls so that they could hear their first words and watch them doing their next great trick.
I am hoping that as a nation we come to terms with this power and use it to enhance the oral traditions that families share.
Posted by Candy Mooney | June 17, 2010 11:57 PM
Posted on June 17, 2010 23:57
I don't feel that I grew up with much storytelling, but after reading your post I wonder if it is because my extended family lives in Indiana. We don't get to see them often, so I wonder if we were together more often if I would also hear this type of storytelling. I wonder if other people feel that they have lost the stories behind their culture for the same reason. I can see how today's technologies keep us from interacting in the ways we have in the past, because I am the first to text instead of call someone and talk on the phone. But, I also see Candy's point in that it makes it easier to communicate to people who live far away. I think as a parent I definitely hope to tell my kids as many stories as possible. I think in the classroom we can at least model storytelling for our kids, so they are prepared to tell stories on their own.
Posted by Angie Sigmon | June 18, 2010 9:18 AM
Posted on June 18, 2010 09:18
I am amazed by the number of people that have posted comments about the wealth of storytelling in their families. I am glad don't get me wrong. It just surprises me some. My mom and dad were never really ones to tell stories that much (maybe because they were VERY young when they became parents--not sure). The only time as a kid that I remember ever really hearing stories about their lives was at holiday gatherings and things of that nature. I was very intrigued as a kid by the stories in books (and read like crazy!). However, I had never thought that much about my family stories until I read this article. I have been thinking since about the stories that I will tell my girls.....and the ones that I will keep to myself. ;)
Posted by Christy Laws | June 18, 2010 1:13 PM
Posted on June 18, 2010 13:13
Zandra,
I can relate to your post as a child I heard all different kinds of stories about my grandparents and aunts and uncles. My family has always been very close. We go on family vacations together and have family cookouts on a regular basis. I think the closeness and the time that you spend with your family allows you to share the intimate stories about family members from the past. I have funny stories that I remember about family members that I did not get the chance to meet. I feel like I know them from the stories and that gives me a warmness in my heart. I think that families should spend more time telling stories it may translate over to the classroom.
Angie Somers
Posted by Angie Somers | June 18, 2010 10:48 PM
Posted on June 18, 2010 22:48