Relator Method
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In storytelling, the "Relator Method" is a scientific approach built on the paradigm that a story has a major epiphany, which must deliver the listeners the main understanding or lesson of the story".[1]
Description of the Method[edit]
The method starts from the theory that authors propose, that a story is a representation model of the process of understanding; it reconstructs "the path that primitive man observed his own mind following when transitioning from ignorance to understanding"[2]. And from this perspective, storytelling becomes a process of transmitting experience[3] from the storyteller to the audience.
Framework of the Story[edit]
Since the creation of the story is (according to the method) an intentional act, before conceiving the narrative thread, it's necessary to define a framework of the story that includes: the premise, epiphany, triggering event, and hero.
The premise of the story "represents the entire story told in a single sentence"[4], meaning it's the shortest exposition of the narrative's subject. It doesn't include or suggest the understanding that the listener or reader of the story will reach; instead, it ensures the uniqueness of the story and stimulates interest in following the narrative.
The epiphany is the insight that the story's audience identifies in the events presented by the storyteller. The epiphany is the understanding the storyteller reached when experiencing the events narrated, an understanding that, through storytelling, is reconstructed in the audience's mind. The narrative thread of the story embodies the causal chain and the sequence of rational operations that the human mind undergoes to approach understanding. As a narrative moment, the epiphany is the climax where the hero reaches understanding. The "Narrator" Method requires the epiphany to be established before the storyteller begins to actually write the story.
The triggering event is an incident that introduces the story's intrigue or triggers the conflict in the story. Trying to explain the structure of ancient Greek theater dramas, the German writer Gustav Freytag observed that the plays start from a moment of equilibrium, then the triggering event occurs, causing a rise in action and emotion up to the climax.
The hero of the story is the main character who, through certain events, leads the audience to the story's epiphany. The hero is affected by the triggering event, which creates a problem for them. However, not yet understanding the nature of the problem, they act based on their previous experience. Intuition will suggest a false solution to the problem generated by the triggering event. In storytelling, this false solution is called the hero's desire. At the climax, by achieving the epiphany, the hero truly understands the nature of the problem. Therefore, they will abandon or correct their desire. The fact that the hero fails to identify the nature of the problem from the beginning is linked to a certain physical or moral weakness they possess, which in storytelling is referred to as vulnerability.
The World of the Story[edit]
Descriptions of the physical world in which the story takes place, chronotope, and ethos as mentioned by Aristotle form the story's world.
The arena of the story is the space in which the story unfolds, and this arena is revealed to the audience through various techniques, such as: the skeleton technique, the traveler technique, or the vehicle technique.
The moral plane (ethos) signifies the customs, ideas, beliefs, and ideals that describe a certain community of people. From the moral plane's perspective, stories are of two kinds: stories conforming to the moral plane and stories that revolutionize the moral plane.
Spoken Story[edit]
The process of publicly exposing the story involves understanding how emotions are constructed and function, as well as how the storyteller can ensure the transfer of emotions. On stage, the storyteller must ensure that he can capture and maintain the audience's attention.
The nonverbal storyteller is another concept on which the "Relator" Method relies. It involves elements of body language, such as facial expressions, gestures, postures, and movements, which the storyteller must practice on stage to ensure that the nonverbal story transmitted matches the one conveyed through words. Within the method, a distinction is made between nonverbal language elements that represent manifestations of emotional responses, which are decoded similarly regardless of the socio-cultural context, and nonverbal language elements that have a specific decoding within a certain cultural context.
Hooks are impact tools proposed by the method, capturing and maintaining attention on stage, involuntarily stimulating the audience's attention and resynchronizing the audience with the emotional arc of the story.
Space consecration is a technique of the method through which the storyteller, when in a situation of narrating their story in an unconventional setting, imaginarily defines the limits of the stage. He establishes his zones of balance, change and climax, then identifying the physical location of stage anchors and points of visual support.
Practical Application of the Method[edit]
Being a constructivist method aimed at leading the audience to a certain understanding, the "Relator" Method can be applied in education, marketing, communication and political discourse, pastoral theology, and even in constructing final pleas by advocates in court.
Because the story is a representation of the process of understanding, the "Relator" Method also presents itself as a tool for reducing functional illiteracy[5], and it is currently being studied by educators in Romania[6]. Functional illiteracy is contrasted with illiteracy in the strict sense, meaning the inability to read or write simple sentences in any language; functional illiteracy being rather a problem of understanding.
Notes[edit]
- ↑ [1] Sînică Vrânceanu, Radu Bogdan Ghelu, "Storytelling - Metoda Povestitorul," Panta Rhei, Bacău 2021, p.133
- ↑ [2] Cosmin Șontică, Reporter Buzoian, November 1, 2021
- ↑ [3] Andrada Oană, DCNews, November 12, 2021
- ↑ [4]John Truby, The Anatomy of Story, Farrar Straus and Giroux 2007
- ↑ [5]prof.univ.dr. Venera Cojocariu, the "Relator" Method or a reflexive-interactive way to reduce functional illiteracy, Deșteptarea, November 4, 2021
- ↑ [6]"Webinar: Storytelling-ul, instrument pentru ameliorarea analfabetismului funcțional", Ziarul de Bacău, October 23, 2021
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