open discussion

Here is a recent correspondance between Mi Ryoung and I. fyi:

Thank you Mi Ryoung - these are good points. Yes, we may be overgeneralizing, but that shows our need to get more specific. You make a good observation about social distance. The formal event very likely will involve more anonymous participants. How does that change the social transaction? Consider the event from a larger perspective: various unrelated individuals have selected to attend an event, perhaps purchased tickets, arriving with certain expectations of the event in terms of entertainment, use of time, and so on. The storyteller likewise arrives with certain expectations for the event: allotment of time for speaking, presumed interest of the listeners, and so on. Note how this compares with Bauman's observations on the changes in Ed Bell's storytelling as his storytelling persona moved from informal to formal storyteller, to a setting that allowed for more time and elaboration for an increasingly diverse and anonymous group of listeners.

Note Bell's own remarks about his choices as the context changed.
pg. 104:
"Above all, Bell considers it crucially necessary to maintain a keen awareness of the audience as he performs:
'When I add it there I look and watch people, how they receive it. You know, it doesn;t take long when you're talkin' for someone to tell how they receive what you're sayin', and, uh, I can almost all the time tell if that was good, better, or worse.' "

David


On Apr 12, 2009, at 10:39:59 PM, Marian wrote:
From: Marian
Subject: [READ 5190] New comment on The terms "Grooming" and "stroking" revisited by M....
Date: April 12, 2009 10:39:59 PM EDT
To: novateller@aol.com
Marian has left a new comment on your post "The terms "Grooming" and "stroking" revisited by M...":

Thanks Mary and David for your comments!!

It was ok when I used these terms for the analysis of conversational storytelling. while I am trying to use these terms in the storytelling event, i have a trouble in using the terms because of the following reasons. First, participants in the storytelling event are anonymous ("not known") and different from those in conversational storytelling. We don't know who they are. The terms "Grooming and stroking" should be used where the social distance is very close. Second, there are very few grooming and stroking behaviors from audience such as clapping and laughing. I wonder whether we can include audience verbal replies as grooming behaviors. To me, the terms are being used as "overgeneralization" in our classroom.