Benjamin, Walter. “The Storyteller“ in Illuminations trans. Harry Zohn (New York: Schoken Books 1969)
Walter Benjamin’s essay The Storyteller offers an interesting assessment of modern media and literature prior to the start of World War II that offers indictments of the effects of technology and mass communication on culture that resonates equally well with contemporary American culture.
Benjamin suggests that the tradition of storytelling has been lost due to the rise of the novel. He laments this loss because he sees storytelling as containing key ingredients for the formation of wisdom. Good storytelling is the retelling of events in a way that creates an experience for the audience. It is the most effective means of handing down wisdom through the ages. Whereas the novel is tethered to the printed page, the story is portable and expansive as it may migrate from the page to the voice and be augmented with gesture. Another significant difference is the way the novel terminates itself from our memory through the its complete closure at the end of each book. Stories on the other hand, in the great tradition of the Greek epic, are really just accounts of activities that have taken place that hold some sort of significance that is to be contemplated. A story never really end, they just connect, to the next event. When we die, our life is distilled into the significant actions and events that are recounted through story, which keeps the truth and lessons of our life alive. It is the connectivity to the traditions of the past that lead to the contemplation of our own future. A novel is not effective in this way because it is layered with too many characters, too many explanations, and too much information. Explanations and narrative are the antithesis of contemplation and therefore render the novel impotent concerning the formation of experience and wisdom. This can be said for newspapers and contemporary journalism. Information is only valuable at the time it is new. Too much information and explanation enables the audience to segregate the story from their own lives. Too much specificity enables us to treat the story as about “the other” and which is why we have become consumers of news and a culture that is experiencing a shortage of wisdom. The founder of the magazine LeFigaro, Villemessant, once wrote “To my readers, an attic fire in the Latin Quarter is more important than a revolution in Madrid.” Contemporary storytelling prevents the audience from committing the story to memory or from getting the since of continuity to the past and future. This amnesia of our own mortality dooms us to make unwise life choices that have little regard for the consequences of our actions.
Benjamin uses the example of the Greek storyteller Herodotus as an ideal to be pursued by artist. In a story about the Egyptian King Psammentus Benjamin illustrates how the simple recounting of events without explanation offers the audience the opportunity to connect and reflect on the significance and meaning of the story in contemporary terms. Herodotus’ story would be helpful in coming up with ideas about what kind of traits our government leaders should possess.
Stories should be stripped of explanations of our interpretations. This by itself will allow a compactness that enables the story to embed itself in memory, which is where it must reside if we are to convey wisdom. A story must be repeatable. The absence of information illustrates how the myth or parable can exaggerate or even fabricate, and yet still communicate a larger truth more effectively than information alone.
Bejamin argues that the most effective storytellers are the chroniclers. The repetition of actions gives the audience the opportunity to connect with the story and reflect on their own interpretation of the deeds. Modern news stories tell us the meaning of events and eliminate the need to even think about it. The Chronicler simply recounts the events. Where a single photograph might provide information, a series of photographs that document activities, such as the FSA photographs, builds a much stronger case than a typed report filled with statistical explanations.
How do we know if we are able to be good storytellers? There are two types of storytellers, those who travel the world and have life experiences, and those who stay within the historical fabric of their hometown. Artisans were traditionally the best storytellers because they had traveled during their apprenticeships and returned to lay down roots in their communities. To be good storytellers we must have life experience or be good listeners of those whose life experiences provide powerful narratives. The narrative is the most poignant story that can be told. . Pascal wrote, “No one dies so poor that he does not leave something behind.” It is the natural history of life and death that gives a story its authority and validity.
Finally, Benjamin complains of modern economies and technology as creating a culture that seeks abbreviation and lacks the quiet mind necessary for contemplation. We are all too busy to hear or recognize the wisdom found in experiences. If we were to rest before the Grand Canyon and consider the sublime wonder of its perfection, we would have to recognize that its perfection is the result of sustained forces of effort, that are occurring all the time. The human pursuit of this level of perfection is craftsmanship. Machinery and manufacturing have replaced craftsmanship and citizens are in a constant state of flux as is made evident in Sebastio Salgado’s book Migration. One questions whether or not the artist who heeds Walter Benjamins advice for storytelling will have an audience left to see, hear, and ultimately contemplate the wisdom of our experiences.
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