Story, Teller and Audience – Storytelling as a Profession
Markus Luukkonen Metroplia University of Applied Sciences Performing arts – Bachelor’s Thesis
For the reader: “Unfortunately this thesis is written only in Finnish – In english you can read the Abstract from below. Anyway I will continue my work as a storyteller and I will continue reseaching and doing experiments with the art of storytelling. And happily I’ll continue the conversation about the topic. What is this storytelling?”
You can read and download the thesis from here: http://www.theseus.fi/handle/10024/88104
ABSTRACT
This Bachelor’s thesis examines storytelling and different ways of applying it. The focus is on the storyteller and how his or her role varies in different contexts. The thesis regards storytelling as a profession and examines the different elements of the storyteller’s work.
In this thesis, storytelling is divided into three different categories: campfire storytelling; performance storytelling; and applied storytelling. These categories are defined and discussed in the light of the author’s own experiences and written sources. Three different projects from the author’s previous career are focused on. These projects are Erämaateatteri (Wilderness Theatre) – a theatre group that mixes music, visual art and storytelling; Shaibalaiba! – Story Café – a story club organized in Helsinki; and the Taide kotouttaa project (a project titled Art Integrates) – an applied storytelling project that included performances and workshops.
The first part of the thesis briefly introduces the history and definition of storytelling. This part is followed by an introduction to and discussion of the basic parts of storytelling, namely: the story, the teller and the audience. The last part of the thesis discusses the storyteller’s work and his or her relationship with the story, themselves and the audience. The first part of the thesis relies mostly on written sources, while the second part focuses more on the author’s own experiences.
Markus Luukkonen 