Interview with Margaret Atwood

In order to keep to my plan on researching narrative theory this week, I looked specifically at the art of storytelling and what is so human about it.  I always enjoy finding insights from good authors when it comes to research.  This one was an interview with Margaret Atwood on the topic of "Why Do We Tell Stories?"  This is what I got from it.

 She says that the reason why we need to tell stories as part of the human condition is because "language is one of the most primary facts of our existence."  It is what sets us apart from other animals.  She shares another theory that narrative art has evolved adaptation because if you hear a story about what not to do, you won't do it.  To demonstrate this point she uses an example of a river with a crocodile.  She says that "if I can tell you that right over there in that river was where the crocodile ate Uncle George, you do not have to test that in your own life by going over there and getting eaten by the crocodile."  I think that is a pretty interesting theory, it would make sense in the light of cautionary tells that seem to be in all cultures because "we know that people learn and assimilate information much more through stories than they do through charts and graphs."  Especially when there is so much emotion, which is so fundamentally human.

We are not just "thought" or "screaming" entities, we are "thought/feeling"beings.  This is what her thoughts are on why storytelling is so universal and why we need to tell them.

Why We Tell Stories.  Big Think.  Creative Commons, 21 Sept. 2010. Web. 8 Feb. 2011. <http://bigthink.com/ideas/24259>