For teoretikeren Roland Barthes var ikke en fortelling bare en kjede av hendelser prisgitt en fortellers talent, men et intrikat system av enheter og regler. En fortelling består av en rekke nivåer som samlet skaper en mening med fortellingen. Et nivå alene kan ikke gi mening, nivåene er operasjonelle og har et forhold til hverandre. Og meningen produseres hele tiden: meaning is not «at the end” of the narrative, it runs across it; just as conspicuous as the purloined letter, meaning includes all unilateral investigation. Barthes ser at fortellingen har et konsept som han kaller level of description. Denne deles igjen inn i tre nivåer: level of functions, level of actions og level of narration. Enhver enhet i fortellingen er ikke uten betydning, den er aldri bortkastet.

En funksjon er fortellingens minste meningsskapende enhet. Funksjonen essens er å så et frø som får frukter senere i fortellingen. Funksjonene deles i to kategorier: cardinal functions – denne er åpen og fører til alternative konsekvenser og det er usikkert hva som kommer nå. Denne gjør fortellingen om til et risikabelt sted å være og catalyzers som er kronologiske og logiske. Disse er trygge og lukseriøse for å parafrasere Barthes. «The catalyser has a constant function which is ../../.. it maintains the contact between narrator and addressee. Eksempel med telefon. Funksjoner er bundet sammen til det barhes kaller sekvenser. Tidligere har en fortelling blitt satt sammen av hendelser som beveger seg kronlogisk og forstått og tolket som dette. Å drikke er en sekvens bestående av flere funksjoner og flere sekvenser kan blande seg i hverandre samtidig som de likevel beholder sin identitet av å være en sekvens. En sekvens kan kjennes igjen ved at den kan benevnes som «å drikke».
Det neste nivået blir av Barthes kalt for level of action. En handlinger blir forståttsom en samling av artikulasjoner av praxis (som kamp, begjær osv). Her er fokus på karakterer, eller fortellingens manglende fokus på karakteren. En karakter, eller agent har kulturelt sett vært underordnet handlinger helt fra Aristoteles poetikken. Etterhvert ble karakterer omgjort til typer, fordi de ble sett på som en samling av bestemte handlinger. Det er interessant å skjønne at enhver karakter er en helt av egne handlinger. En karakter blir definert utfra type handlinger. Likevel er det problematisk med subjektet i en fortelling, hvem er hovedperson. En hovedperson er knyttet til det narrative som er Barthes tredje nivå.

Fortellingen er objektet i kommunikasjonen og det er helt avhengig av forteller og lytter understreker Barthes. Det hele er rammet inn av koder som begge parter kjenner til og det er lytteren som synes mer enn fortelleren. Fortelleren eller donoren i situasjonen kan eksistere innenfor tre konsepter. I det første konseptet strømmer fortellingen tydelig fra en person som gjerne kommenterer fortellingen underveis og på den måten understreker sin synlighet. I det andre er fortelleren en overordnet styrende instans og er på engang både utenfor og innenfor karakterene i fortellingen. I det tredje tilfellet begrenser fortelleren sin fortelling til karakterers synsvinkel.

Det er bare i en fortellersituasjon en fortelling får mening. Og i situasjonen bruker fortellingen et språk som er syntetisk, det forstyrrer og utvider språket. Å skape spenning er et eksempel på en form for forstyrrelse. En fortelling har ikke noe med virkeligheten å gjøre, den representerer ikke virkeligheten: What takes place in a narrative is from the referential (reality) point of view literally nothing; what happens is language alone, the adventure of language, the unceasing celebration of its coming.

I går hadde jeg min siste Yrsa forestilling på norsk, nå må det oversettes til engelsk for publikum i Wien og Roma. Skjønt først skal jeg arbeide med en annen kvinne fortelling, nemlig St. Sunniva. Jeg gjorde det litt lite smarte trekket ved å foreslå å fortelle den legenden på 17. mai på St. Sunniva skole. Som mor til en 6. klassing har vi i år ansvar for 17. mai arrangementet. 17. mai arrangementet på St. Sunniva er kjent for sin eksotiske mat og det skal lages 900 vårruller. Jeg nøyer meg med å lage pizza og gulrotkake.

Uansett, tilbake til legenden, som i seg selv er sparsommelig og litt blodfattig. Det nådige gudsbildet (om man kan kalle det det) henger tungt over den og blir fortellingens drivkraft. Olav den senere helliges funn av Sunniva den irske kongsdatteren er det sterkeste bildet. Der hun ligger død, ser det ut som hun sover. Fortellingen skal heldigvis ikke være så lang, men den skal fortelles, så her må det arbeides.

17mai

During the project Sheherazade I am looking for your stories about your virtual life, told through words or/and photos, fictions and facts. If you have a story about how you found your way to virtual life, how you chose your name, your first love or wig, please share it. If you have a story about lag, ruth or ”being stuck in animation”, tell it. Let other know that a virtual life is also a life.

You can either give your story in a notecard Inworld here or send it to heidi@dahlsveen.no
The stories will be published here: http://sheherazadevirtualstories.tumblr.com/

Det er en stund siden jeg har skrevet et innlegg på bloggen. Det skjedde så mye at jeg ikke kunne bearbeide det skriftlig. For det første døde min fetter, kun 37 år gammel. Han led av en uhelbredelig muskelsykdom, døden kom ikke uforventet. Det gikk opp for meg hvor lite jeg egentlig husker om han. Det gjør det enda mer tragisk. Jeg forsto også at det er forferdelig når man glemmes og ingen historier finnes etter den døde, det er kanskje den aller verste død. På Torsdag gravlegges min fetter og der hentes nok minner fram.

Yrsa i videregående skole er avsluttet. Jeg har en forestilling igjen, før den skal oversettes og framføres i Wien og Roma. Siste forestilling er på Deichmanske Majorstuen i morgen kl. 1300. Yrsa ble avsluttet på Elvebakken VGS for to fine klasser der.

Så gjelder det Sheherazade, to prosjekter. For det første åpnet vi en virtuell installasjon med flere virtuelle kunstnere involvert, den 3. mai. I tilknytning til dette prøver jeg å samle virtuelle fortellinger om å leve et virtuelt liv. Du kan lese det her.

I tillegg har jeg denne uken vært på møte i Exeter i England i forbindelse med Sheherazade EU prosjektet. Prosjektet fokuserer på muntlig fortelling i voksen opplæring og partnerne møttes for en status i prosjektet så langt. Prosjektet avsluttes formelt i november uke 46 med en større konferanse.

Sist, men ikke minst, vi har fått oss en hund. Han kom til oss i går og opptar oss veldig. Atsjoo som hunden heter, har fått sin egen blogg her. Utover dette er vi opptatt med 17. mai hvor vi har ansvaret for arrangementet på skolen. Isak skal holde tale og jeg har ansvar for underholdningen.

Read more here: www.sheherazade.eu

When we speak of traditional storytelling, the term ‘traditional’ does not necessarily refer to the type of stories told but rather to the act in itself. “Traditional storytelling is an art – and a form of communication that creates internal images in the listener’s imagination rather than show or dramatizes visible images. The traditional storytelling takes place as an open and direct two-way communication between the storyteller and the audience and allows for interaction between those present.”

This definition, as it is used in the curricula at the Norwegian HiOA is one of the many definitions of ‘traditional storytelling’. It highlights something essential: the ability to create inner images and it emphasizes the active role of the listener in storytelling. The social context (where it happens), why it is told, the narrative competence, the nature of the public are all important elements in the understanding of traditional storytelling.

Storytelling is an integral part of the human experience, allowing us to understand our world, communicate with others, and express ourselves. The value of stories and storytelling has long been appreciated in educational programs for children and adolescents, but when it comes to adult learning, formalized methodology and curriculum structures involving storytelling are still lacking.

Storytelling in Adult Training

In an effort to respond to this need, the Sheherazade team has undertaken a research project to see how storytelling is being used in adult training. Our research has shown that adult trainers are interested in learning more about using storytelling in their training activities. Many of the storytellers we spoke with were also excited about the possibilities of applying storytelling as a pedagogical tool. The challenge thus comes in bringing these groups together.

Apart from storytelling trainings focused on teaching it as an art, storytelling seems to be rarely included in formalized adult training curricula as a pedagogical tool. When it is used in adult training, storytelling proves to be adaptable to a wide variety of educational settings. The examples found by our partners include trainings targeting adult trainers such as psychology professionals, foreign language teachers, and community workers, as well as “end-user” adults such as migrants or language learners.

The curricula we have discovered do not include details about the specific activities used involving storytelling, nor information about how storytelling techniques have been adapted to the context of the course. The trainings are usually one-time or short-term sessions. Our research reveals the need for a formalized written support on the use of storytelling as a pedagogical tool in adult trainings. Such a document could serve as a guide for adult trainers in the following ways:
• Presenting guidelines on how adult trainings involving storytelling can be structured
• Giving insight into the advantages of using storytelling in an adult training context (promoting storytelling)
• Providing tips on how to use storytelling with different target groups
• Introducing trainers to the technical aspects of storytelling
• Presenting specific storytelling activities/approaches which can be used in adult training
• Providing theoretical background on the use of storytelling in adult training

The upcoming phases of our project will produce deliverables to address these issues.

Storytelling as a Pedagogical Tool

As we spoke with storytellers to see how they use stories in a training context, several trends stood out in the methodological approaches they employed when incorporating storytelling into adult training.

Preparatory phase
Many of the storytellers agree that a preparation phase is vital to the successful use of storytelling in the classroom. They find it very important to give learners a chance to “warm up” before working with stories in a training course, especially if they are new to telling and listening to stories as an adult. “Warming up” activities need to not only prepare them for the work that will follow, but also to put them at ease and relive tension and nervousness they may have.
Four key “warming up” steps were mentioned in our interviews:
a) Establishing the goals of the training
b) Creating the right atmosphere for the training (room set-up, etc.)
c) Establishing confidence and trust between participants
d) Preparing participants to think creatively (often done by starting with a story)

Technical activities
Technical activities are the “meat and bones” of the storytelling process. These activities allow learners to improve their storytelling skills while also working on skills more closely related to the main goals of the course. Our storytellers find the following types of activities important:
• Training on physical movement/gestures/breathing
• Word games/work on speaking
• Techniques for delivering and remembering a story
• Emphasis on the importance of both practical and technical activities
• Importance of dialogue

One of the challenges inherit in storytelling is the process of going from the written language to conveying ideas orally.

Workshop
The workshop portion of an adult training involving storytelling thus focuses on the specific goal of the course and how storytelling can be used to achieve it. Some examples of course topics that would be ideal for storytelling include language learning and courses promoting the integration of at-risk groups. The possibilities for incorporating storytelling into adult learning are endless.

Performance
In the performance step of a training involving storytelling, learners have the opportunity to tell their own stories to each other and listen to the stories of others. Because telling a story alone in front of an audience can be intimidating for some learners, it is helpful to allow them to work in pairs or trios.

Some quotes from the interviews with the storytellers

Leah Davcheva (BG): A trainer / facilitator needs to make sure she has a full grasp of the task and the emerging context when deciding what story to tell herself or invite others to tell. In other words, customising or asking for a story to be customised to the group is essential. Willingness to be vulnerable with the group is another prerequisite. Authenticity is important by way of engendering trust. Related to this is the congruence between the story one tells and their behavior. A facilitator needs to remember that she should elicit more stories than she herself tells. Openness, respect and withholding judgement are also important. And finally, a facilitator needs to build in room for story sharing when she designs her training.

Jacques Combes (FR): With adults, you need to reassure them of the value of what they have to say, of their story. You have to put them at ease, taking their life experiences into account (e.g. difficult migration trajectories), so that storytelling can be a distraction and a positive experience. Combes also finds that a good group dynamic is very important to a successful course. In his current course with recently arrived immigrants, he focuses on creating conviviality among the students so that they are more open and trusting with each other. He does this through exercises (on the body, the imagination, speaking, etc.) and through group meals in which each student brings a traditional dish from their respective countries.

David Heathfield (UK): I make the purpose, structure and content of the program as clear as possible in the description people read when choosing the program. I find out about the expectations and wishes of participants before and at the start of the program and there is regular reflection throughout the program. I make the environment secure for participants by agreeing and setting clear boundaries so that they are able to be playful, experiment and take risks while feeling supported by me and by each other. I follow up the program by making myself available to communicate about people’s experiences and queries.

Suse Weisse (DE): With most groups I am not so involved in the technical elements of storytelling. I don’t use storytelling to teach ‘performance or communication techniques’. I use it as a direct way to the minds of people, to make them open their minds and hearts. I think it is ideal to help people relax, to become a group. They come together by singing songs, by listening to a story.

Caroline Sire (FR): They learn to go from written language to oral language and to listen to words not only for their meaning, but their sound as the language becomes almost musical (rhythm, word choice), etc.

Iwan Kushka (UK): writing exercise: how to remember stories and how to write them down? Using the story told at the very beginning, have people identify the ‘bare bones’, the ‘skeleton’ of the story.
Story is led by images, write down the steps of the story. Demonstrate the main tools of the storytelling trade: body posture (sitting or standing, connecting gaze, body posture to ‘embody’ different characters, how to represent dialogue, importance of pauses, how and when to invite audience participation, how to create a ‘story map’ (visualizing the different places that appear in the story, placing them to your left and right).

Diane Sophie Geerts (BE): A workshop should always be a subtle mix of theoretical contribution and practical applications. Every workshop should take into consideration respect and integration of each person. The capacities of every participant should be valorized so that he can use the proposed tools blithely and without fear. I also think that the goals of the workshop should be clearly explained before the start of the workshop.
This workshop would consist of a part where stories and there richness are discovered, and also of a more technical part on oral storytelling.

Margaret Wenzel (AT): The dialogical concept of storytelling is the basic structure of each training. The telling and listening, reflecting, structuring and the feedback I get. I always tell a story as introduction. “Can you learn telling stories? “, that is often one of the main questions at the beginning. I tell the story integrating my know-how about storytelling. Then the next step is that I let them describe what they have noticed and after that I can go on. The curriculum can only be developed in the dialog with the participants.

Aideen Mc Bride (IE): Adults with literacy problems could listen to stories and communicate their own without having to read or write. This means that they can expand their vocabulary and become comfortable with the language before they ever had to open a book. It is a ‘very honest and informal way of teaching where you can ‘slip the message in’ without intimidating your trainees. If you have people who are nervous or scared by the formality of learning all that can be left aside while the story is being told.

Rien Van Meensel (BE): I worked for a year with foreign women who attended the integration course (obliged by the state). With those who didn’t speak a lot of Dutch we worked on recipes to break the ice. Later on we told stories and we worked on their life stories as well. These stories were really emotional, we used the techniques of traditional storytelling: we sat in a circle with a candle in the middle, they had to create an image from their past and choose a beginning, a middle and an end. They told stories about the house they lived in, their journey to Belgium and the future they wanted for their children.

_____________________________________________________
This article is based on extracts from the Sheherazade manual that will be a major outcome of the project. The manual targets adult educators willing to introduce storytelling techniques in their work with adults. Full texts will be available soon on www.sheherazade.eu.

Project partners:
Landcommanderij Alden Biesen, BE, coordinator.
Fabula, storyteller association, SE
Oslo & Akershus University college, NO
CVO Landen-Leuven, BE
Brunnenpassage, AT
Meath Partnership, IE
Superact, UK
ELAN Interculturel, FR
Sofia University, BG

Sheherazade is a Grundtvig Multilateral Project.

I think my first line to Capcat was something like: OMG we have the same name and same WIG. My avatar was called Frigg Ragu and hers Capcat Ragu. This was March 2009 and we did not meet through SL, but flickr. Back then we cared for wigs and skins and sunbathing on beaches with fake waves going in the wrong direction. Eyelashes was misplaced and life was not yet a mesh. Now 4 years later she is still ”my little sister”, we have spoken on skype and written papers together. And hopefully we will soon meet in RL too. Together with Meilo Minotaur, Capcat has created some of the most striking art pieces and concepts in SL, and crossed the border between virtual and real world.

They writes about themselves:
Meilo Minotaur and CapCat Ragu are two portuguese artists that devoted their artistic activity to the Metaverse, working individually and collaboratively in the Second Life virtual environment where they held several exhibitions and collaborated with artists from different fields and nationalities. They build the Second Life Sim Delicatessen, that held projects like “de Maria, de Mariana, de Madalena”, “Petrified” and “Meta_Body”.

In this project they also have brought the sound artist Takio Ra:
Originally from Portugal, Takio Ra first joined the Metaverse in 2006 and has shared a peaceful coexistence from there on with various activities in meatspace, including politics, design, illustration, visual coding, VJ’ing, teaching, sound works and parenting. META_BODY II, a project by Meilo Minotaur and CapCat Ragu, includes Takio’s collaborative contribution in soundscaping.

See more of their projects here.

This is the second time I row Cherry Manga creates installations based on one of my wild ideas. So, as you probably understand I am fond of her ability to create frozen moments of a narrative.

You might have, like me, wandered through the surreale world in ”Mysterious Wave” where you encountered moments of fables that are on their way somewhere. Small stories are here and there frozen in a movement so you can have time to look at it from several angles. Or maybe you, like me, experienced “Dance Macabre / Chess – Cherry” and you remembered Edith Piaf. When I asked her to be a part of the last project based on Little Red Riding Hood, she entered the protagonists hidden dreams and spoke them out.

Cherry Manga who was born in SL 2007 is a self-taught multi-media artist and a silent enigma. She allows her art to tell their own stories. When I’ve seen her in action, she works quiet, precise and intense. In this project, she has portrayed moments and turned them into epic adventures. The scenes she has created turns you into voyeur, you peek into a secret world. At the same time it feels like you are in the eye of a hurricane. You have something to look forward to.
Read more about Cherry here.

Det er en delikat resonans å møte elever i VGS gjennom fortellingen om Yrsa. I dag begynte jeg i en internasjonal klasse på Berg VGS. Nydelige elever, våkne og spørrende, kloke og reflekterende.
Jeg har redusert og forenklet Yrsa ytterligere. Det er en god struktur på fortellingen nå. Det fysiske er ikke på plass og her bør jeg utfordre meg selv til neste gang. Mitt problem er at jeg får opp energien på et visst punkt hvor jeg ønsker mer liv og ikke vet jeg hva som hindrer meg i å komme dit. Det er noe som holder igjen og det kan være at jeg forundres over elevenes forundrende blikk.

Jeg dro videre til en idrettsklasse på Ulsrud VGS, en nesten ren guttegruppe. Flotte elever, men egentlig ikke så interessert i dette materialet som den første gruppen. Dette førte til at jeg raste gjennom fortellingen i et massivt tempo for ikke å gi den en eneste sjanse til å gli ut og inn i noe annet. Jeg var helt utkjørt etterpå og måtte legge meg for å sove litt.
Jeg er nødt til å gå igjennom utgangspunktet for fortellingen og se hvor jeg kan hvile i fortellingens rom og hvor det krever et driv. Fortellingen rører ennå ikke der jeg ønsker og dette må søke mer i.

Some months ago I went to this installation that took my with breath, something quite unnarrative, yet a well of inspiration. At that time I did not know Giovanna, who made it, now I know her a little better. Evenmore funny, it seems like we have some fellow RL friends in Italy. She is one of the artists making Sheherazade in SL. To me Giovanna has a sort of uncompromising courage, daring to look at things differently. Her list of art pieces in SL is looong. The teacher and musician Giovanna writes about herself:

My “adventure by change” began in SL in December of 2008 and as a work connected to RL work, that of teacher. I immediately started manipulating prim and soon SL was and still has been for me above all the place to create. In june 2009 I exposed on Pyramid, and then after, in many Italian and foreign galleries (Pirats Art Network, Art Maniac, Studio 33, Galeria Mexico, Arte libera, Shamen Galleries, Artemis gallery, Vertex , Kelli Yap Newcomers and Friend gallery, La Quintessenza Art Gallery, Aneli’s Gallery, Cuauhnahuac Gallery, Piramide Indire, PAD, Diadem, Second nation, Space art – A bottega con Arte e mente, Tanalois , Lalibela, ART GALLERY by Maryva Mayo, Astral Dreams – Gallery Art, ArtKandhor- Geyser art Space, Mare nostro, LEA art sandbox, Brooklyn is watching, Art nation, Erato of carleon, Raglan Artwalk 2010,-2011,-2012, Sun Escapes Arts Center, Scotland Art show, Blue Dolphin bay, Portugal Lisboa…I’ve contributed to events related to RL, such as Arte Fiera di Padova, lodged by french artist Patrick Moya (aka Moya Janus)

I attended SLB9 and SLB8, Art & Poetry Project, for which I exhibited at the Brera Academy, Carp Diabolus and Metales, 2LEI, a demonstration against violence against women, and from November 2011 as well as exhibitions in galleries I devoted primarily to the design and construction of large installations such as Variations On The magic flute, CyBorg Nature, for UWA Sky Sim for series, Synesthesya for Split screen and “The opposite and completion” for the Academy of Brera with a work inspired by Narcissus and Goldmund by Herman Hesse , and that was shown in the physical location of the Academy of Brera in Milan, through the projection screen.

I had a sim in allocation for the third round of LEA land grant artists-in-residence where I presented my installation “Reflections” and work in collaboration with Solkide Auer and Daco Monday ” The border of the injury”.
I then participated in the Burn2 – 2012 with the artwork “Creativity”.

December 2012 I took part in the collective exhibition curated by Mexi Lane “Polvere di Stelle d’Arte” in Second Life, an event related to that in real life organized by Francesca Barbi Marinetti in Margutta RistorArte in Rome.
I took part with my work at “One billion rising at Second life” and at the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the birth of the Beatles organized by Arte libera.

The pictures of my works have been included in the book “ Sfiorami l’anima”of the poet Cinzia Dipace.

You can read more about Giovanna here and also meet her on Friday 3rd of may when Sheherazade opens.

Yesterday I went to a performance inworld, or rather thought it was a performance. I even went there one hour before to secure myself a place. The buzzing in the facebook told that this was going to be big. Alpha Auer had talked about this great happening the couple Kikas Babenco and Marmaduke Arado would make to honour the creations of Alpha Tribe. I thought that SaveMe Oh also was involved, or maybe not?

From one point of view, I could say: What a dissapointment it was. Now the socalled performance is still buzzing in FB, so I guess I am alone with the dissapointment and I am sure people had fun. Mind you, if you belong to the party, you would have fun. It turned out to be the traditional social event party where people comes together to be seen, talked about and taken pictures of. There were friends of Alpha Tribe and the performers, people who are there to confirm their social status in a virtual world. Nothing wrong in this, actually very healthy. BUT as far as I know this was a happening made to give Alpha Tribe a new boost, why do not try to reach out to new groups of people ALSO?

Anyway, yesterday I came almost one hour to early, as mentioned above. I wanted to secure a place to the performance. It would have been brilliant of Kikas Babenco who greeted me to have told me that I should be on the ”discoside”, I will come back to this. The scenery made for the performance was so perfect. Alpha Tribe are incredible creators and this ”garden” I wish was a whole sim. It gives brilliant inspiration for ideas to grow literary.

Now, after have been waiting there close to one hour I was ordered to go the neighbour sim. I was talked to like I was a child and of course reacted like I was a child. I had to give room to all the others visitors, because the garden being in a homestead sim could only take 20 visitors. On the neighboursim, which was very close to the performance area, there was created a disco and here the idea of performance started to fail. Now in a performers mind, if the performance only can take 20 visitors, you only allow 20 visitors and run the performance several times. Why force 40 people in who actually then will not experience the performance? AND why throw a disco at the same time as the performance, why not create a performance there too? And it was not a disco either, because the music was missing. Instead there was some repeating sounds which we were encouraged “to to turn off”. In a soundless disco people started to create a social event greater than the performance.

The concept of the performance was brilliant, and when the performers started 40 minutes later (blaming their Mediterranean dinner tradition) tried to and sometimes managed to express some of their fantastic ideas, their cardinal functions as Barthes would have called it. Because the instantscenes created by the performers worked brilliantly in the garden created for the performance.

In a virtual world, one can say that art is created by those who are there, and this is a great thing. It is fullfilling the rasaconcept. But is the idea of performanceart based on completly anarchism and out of focus? I absolutely disagree with that performance art shold be organised as in most traditional performances in RL, with the seperation between performers and audience. By entering the virtual world you becomes a performer so performance art should use the possibilty to get everybody to coauthor the event, which I think Alpha Auer, Kikas Babenco and Marmaduke Arado had in mind. Yet they seperated the audience from the performance area by creating a disco for the participants. I am sorry I do not get it. Were we supposed to look at the performance as we were dancing and talking and reading the chat?

I have no doubt that the party was great. And I know that the creators involved are fantastic and of the best. They have worked on this, put hours in the event to give others an inspiring experience. Well, at least I got me thinking.

Sheherazade is the storyteller in ”One thousand and one nights” where the frame story tells about a king who marries a new virgin everyday and next morning kills her. Finally it is Sheherazades turn to become the king’s wife. In the evening Sheherazade starts to tell the king stories, and she continues to tell stories for 1001 nights, and in this way she saves her own and other womens life and she is able to change the kings view on women and the world.

”Scheherazade had nothing; only good stories to tell and the ability to tell them well. The lesson is that, if you want to survive, you better have a good story to tell.” (The last storytellers – Richard Hamilton)

In Second life, where everything is possible 4 artists have created installations to honour the imagination of a storyteller. Here you can hear the silence of the sands, enter the darkness of stars, walk on soundless words and stare at a bird trapped in the chest of a human being.

You are so welcome to the opening, or later if you prefer.
The four virtual artists are: Capcat Ragu, Cherry Manga, Giovanna Cerise and Meilo Minotaur.
Date: 3rd of May
Time: 12PM (noon) SLT
Adress: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Companion/121/14/340
Curated by Heidi Dahlsveen/Mimesis Monday

Observasjoner av ulv dukker stadig opp i mediene, gjerne fulgt av et intervju hvor «en tilfeldig» uttrykker en frykt for den ensomt vandrende. I artikkelen “Good predators in bad stories: crosscultural comparison of children’s attitudes towards wolves” av Pavol Prokop, Muhammet Usak og Mehmet Erdogan, vises det til undersøkelser gjort rundt menneskers frykt for rovdyr generelt og ulv spesielt. De skriver at mennesker har utviklet en frykt mekaniske for «for animals that were dangerous to our pre-technological ancestors». Gjennom ulike beviste og ubevisste stimuli bærer vi med oss en iboende frykt som gjør det mulig for oss å handle raskt om vi skulle møte det fryktede rovdyret. Om vi ser et helt objektivt bilde av et rovdyr og dets byttedyr (som jo er en naturlig del av å overleve), vil rovdyret få mer negativ oppmerksomhet enn byttedyret.

I Europas kulturhistorie har ulven (og varulven) fått rollen som den inkarnerte djevelen. Fortellinger, myter og sagn, har mye antagelig mye av skylden for vårt syn på ulven, selv om ikke dette kan påvises direkte. I norrøn mytologi er ulven noe positivt, ære være hamløperen som kunne skape seg om til ulv. Det er flere grunner til at fortellingene ser ut til å påvirke synet på ulven: «Firstly, stories may contain factual mistakes which may result in misconceptions or wrong understanding. For example, Rice (2002) examined 50 popular children’s trade books and documented numerous errors such as labelling mushrooms as plants and describing snakes as slimy (despite the fact that mushrooms are fungi and snakeskin is dry). Secondly, false “facts” from stories are also learned especially by younger children…./../..Thirdly, there is evidence that frightened voices in stories attracted the child’s attention. Very young children (7- to 18 – month-olds) look longer at movies of snakes paired with a frightened human voice than at movies of snakes paired with a happy human voice (DeLoache & Lobue, 2009).” Som forteller er det da interessant at selve formidlingen kan være med på understreke og sørge for utvikling av en tendens. Deres 5. argument er filmer som formidler en aggressiv og voldelig holdning mot ulven.

Med dette i bakhodet gjorde forfatterne selv et studie i barns holdninger mot ulv i to land: Slovakia og Tyrkia. Det er flere ulver i Slovakia og ulven er der delvis beskyttet. De antok at barn i Slovakia ville ha en større negativ holdning til ulv fordi «predation thread is stronger and consequently folklore in this country would favour greater attention of wolves.” De fant ut at fortellinger til en viss grad kan påvirke barns syn på ulver. Fortellingene barn i Slovakia kunne fortelle var mer dramatiske enn de tyrkiske barnas, noe som kunne antyde at «skremme» fortellingene var mer i omløp i et land med flere ulver. De så også at barn som oftere var ute i naturen fryktet ulven mindre enn barn som sjeldnere oppholdt seg i naturen. Videre finnes det et tyrkisk epos om en gutt som reddes av en ulv: «According to this legend, this baby boy was the father of Turks (Sepetçioglu, 1986; Akyuz, 2009). Therefore, some of the Turkish children who have read this epic are interested in wolves.” I sin undersøkelse fant de ut at barn visste en del om ulver, det vil si på kunnskap om ulvens biologi, det hadde svært liten kunnskap om ulvens plass i økosystemet. Artikkelen konkluderer med: “Stories about wolves seem to have impact on children perception of wolves, thus it is suggested that these stories should be considered in formal science/biology settings and re-evaluated in light of growing knowledge in ecology. This promotes potentially interesting and important discussions about the role of wolves in nature among children and teachers. Children should be encouraged to visit nature and watch especially nature history films about predators that might positively influence their perception of top predators in ecosystems.”

Det finnes ikke mange tradisjonelle fortellinger, utover noe i norrøn mytologi og den enslige fortellingen om varulven Bisklaret, som behandler ulven ut fra en positiv synsvinkel. Fortellinger som Rødhette, ulven og geitekillingene, de tre små griser står fast som god barnelitteratur. Vi som fortellere bør bidra til et mer nyansert syn på dette dyret.

Jeg tar med den frihet å reflektere over noen løse tanker om opphevelser fra i går og i dag. I går hadde vi faglig forum på EST/HiOA. Fokus på forumet var de siste stortingsmeldinger rundt grunnskolen og kulturutredningen. Jeg skal ikke gå inn på hva som ble diskutert, utover DKS som jeg hvert år, så å si, leverer produksjoner til. I går, som stadig vekk, diskuteres forholdet skole – DKS, undervisning – kunstner. Den uheldige virkningen DKS har hatt på skolen er at det generelt har gått utover fokus på estetiske fag i grunnskolen. Dette har blitt nedprioritert, tiltross for at forskning viser at jo høyere status de estetiske fagene har i grunnskolen, jo bedre DKS utnyttelse er det og at det også slår heldig ut i forhold til kulturskolen. En tanke som slo meg i går som jeg ikke vet om har blitt diskutert, har DKS ført til en kunstig økning av kunstnere? Jeg vet at mange fortellere har DKS som sin hovednæring. Om ikke DKS hadde eksistert, ville det da ha vært like mange fortellere? Det er helt tydelig at det har blitt et strammere marked for fortellere, fordi flere ønsker å satse på dette.

En annen tanke som sprang opp, var om det er iferd med å bli et eget DKS uttrykk/DKS kunst. Det er mange faktorer som påvirker kunstuttrykket når man tenker DKS produkt. Det er generelt lettere å selge om man er meget flyttbar i forhold tid og annet omfang. Selv er ikke jeg så opptatt av at det skal tilpasses kunnskapsløftets innhold eller lignende, det er ikke der inspirasjonen kommer fra til å utvikle en forestilling. Det kan være andre tendenser som i fjor hvor det var Grimm år. Jeg vet også at det er lettere å trenge igjennom når jeg selv bidrar med et pedagogisk arbeid knyttet til forestillingen. En skriftlig lærerveiledning har liten nytteverdi om jeg da ikke selv følger opp skolen i forhold til det.

Jeg søker ikke DKS utenfor Oslo. Og det er 2 ganger jeg gjennom disse årene ikke har fått solgt noe og det er når jeg har prøvd å rette meg mot VGS. En periode søkte jeg ikke, fordi jeg var helt utmattet av å holde på med å fortelle for barn. Uansett, neste skoleår har jeg ikke kommet med, jeg rettet søknaden inn mot DKS. Ergerlig, jeg mente selv at produktet var godt. Nå er jeg ute i VGS på eget initiativ med støtte fra FFUK. I dag var jeg på Nordstrand VGS og Berg VGS, to vidt forskjellige klasser. Stoffet er kraftig og begge steder gjorde jeg endringer. Ja, det er noe annet å fortelle i skolen enn å fortelle på et teater. Det skyldes at i mange tilfeller stiller faktorer rundt andre krav. En teaterfyr sa engang at hvorfor skal man drive med kompromiss av et kunstuttrykk i skolen i forhold til det man vil gjøre utenfor. Slik ser ikke jeg det. Jeg forteller annerledes i skolen fordi jeg ønsker å kommunisere. Jeg forteller også annerledes i andre kontekster. Jeg har ikke noe mindre ønske om å være kunster i skolen enn utenfor. Det er rett og slett en annen estetikk i en knirkede gymsal med ekko enn i en svart boks.

En herlig kollega på HiOA, Lillegerd Hansen, har en utstilling kalt topologi som er vel verdt å få med seg. Ved to anledninger har jeg brukt Lillegerd som kostymemaker til to fortellerforestillinger.
Utstillingen befinner seg i Læringssenteret i P48 HiOA.

Det er interessant å lese om forsker Thomas Pettitts utgreing om forholdet mellom en fortellings utvikling fra den muntlige tradisjonen til den skriftlige trykte/ i bokform og hvordan dette påvirker fortellingens innhold med spesielt fokus på kropp og landskap. Pettitt bruker i artikkelen «Books and Bodies; Bound and Unbound» Rødhette som et eksempel på hvordan fortellingen blir mer lukket i det den skrives ned for en trykt publikasjon. Han sammenligner den fortellingen de fleste (Zipes m,fl.) mener er nærmest den muntlige opprinnelige med både Perraults og brødrene Grimms versjon. Han skriver for eksempel: «What might have been the most obvious exception with regard to the body, the girl’s incarceration in the wolf’s belly, is actually absent..» I den nedtegnede fortellingen fra muntlig tradisjon er det bevegelse av kropp i et “åpnet landskap” som er det sentrale. Bestemors hus er ikke et hus som ligger i en skog, i den muntlige versjonen finnes det ingen skog, kun et veikryss. Ulven spiser ikke bestemor, han dreper henne og han spiser i hvert fall ikke Rødhette og så videre. Den muntlige versjonen viser en fortelling som er i bevegelse, aktørene handler seg videre, som om fortelleren «particulary in a tradition involving a significant degree of improvisation, in reconstructing his narrative, traces a path through the available options with which he is presented at each step of the story». En boks fiksering med lukkethet og autonomi har påvirket fortellingens oppsett av landskap og i det også kroppsliggjøringen av aktørene i fortellingen.

Fokus for Pettitt er hva som skjer med fortellingene nå som boken ikke lenger er det eneste alternativ og tekster blir promotert gjennom internett og digitale medier. Her er tekstene utsatt for en stadig endring. Den autoritære eneste og fikserte «løsningen» kan da ikke lenger dominere. Og det syns jeg er spennende.