Walter Benjamin And The Role Of Experience

In the current times, experience in story telling is no longer there. It is certain that current story tellers cannot convey the message appropriately because no emphasis is put to retain the experience earlier generations have been using (Benjamin, “The Storyteller”). As the time passes by, the more the experience we loose and this is cleared on the current publication. With the invent of new technologies and technical maneuver to fight prevailing challenges, the experience at these hard times of severe challenges withdraw much from the storytelling community such that whatever they produce can tell it all, no experience. Whatever is left is the poor way of passing on the practical acquaintance with facts. The originality to write stories is never there and only many depend on already existing material to create stories which can include among others speeches and as a result of this, the audience has less to offer in return. Experience is not always a necessary tool to write/tell and deliver stories with essential message creativity can form a useful tool to communicate in the current world.
As Benjamin reflects in the “The Storyteller,” Leskov had the qualities of a good storyteller from his experience of travelling at different times. With the difficulties in his position at Church, he leaves the church. From this, Leskov can draw little material for story telling but a lot comes from his experience as Russian representative contributing a lot of his writing because of the long time spend there. The exposure put forward by the opportunities to travel broadened his view of things presenting materials for a worth stories. These materials are much worth if one has the interests within him or outside him to learn in his environments and maximize such opportunities. The old importance to nature experience of communicability is no longer there and the truth is clear (Benjamin, “The Storyteller”). Modernization has changed the mode of communication loosing of important content material. The essential qualities of knowledge are more important for the past compared to current. Today’s stories are much more of a creation than the real content (Benjamin, “The Storyteller”).
Not much is clear with what is present today in the story-telling category simply because the content present is open for interpretation at any manner that suits the interests of the reader. Importance of knowledge is that which can stay for long, from generations to generations even after the original authors passes on. The true content of the history is much more important than the creations of today (Benjamin, “The Storyteller”).
Contrary to Benjamin’s approach on experience role in story telling, Grinshpon exclaims in “The Upanishadic Experience and Story telling” that the experience is acquired in that whatever one knows is not adequate at all to produce a worth story. Storytellers learn in order to acquire the knowledge necessary to compose a story because one’s own knowledge is not adequate and what matters is to capture the minds of the audience to create the characters present in the story. It is with the help from others’ contributions that a comprehensive story can develop and when the story is on exhibit to the audience, they have an opportunity of a role to play in that they have to interpret the message in the story in their own ways to complete the message. Some of the material present in the stories can be complex to the audience such that they end up being forced “to rethink common assumptions about their meaning while creativity reinterpreting them (Grinshpon, “The Upanishadic Experience and Story telling”). According to Grinshpon, reading has no specific way to do it and he claims that stories contributed by history should present the concern for more careful analysis in that such stories keep on reporting on the manner just like before and therefore they can become boring to some level to the audience who are the main targets.
According to Neal, irrespective of story telling of earlier times bringing playful amusement to both parties, the storyteller and the audience, the mode of presentation of these stories have is different to match the change and demand in technology. Consequently, other modes such as e learning become necessary in order for the stories to be available to many people irrespective of their distance from the original story teller/writer. With the main purpose of passing message, creativity brings out the aspect capturing the readers’ minds in such a way that they remain in attentive to capture the exact message. This then calls for the interest to recall the message as they try to determine the meaning of the story (Neal, “Story telling at a distance”). In order to deliver a comprehensive message, then a strategy has to be put in place to ensure that the method used such as e-learning perfectly manage to fulfill the expectations. In fact, Neal expresses that creativity brings the concept of manipulation of readers’ minds with the artistic change of episodes in the story in a manner such that they capture readers’ minds (Neal, “Story telling at a distance”). The digital storytelling explains this much more as a modern way of story telling.

writings

Processing your request, Please wait....

Leave a Reply