the art of counseling

Walter Benjamin wrote the essay "The Storyteller: Reflections on the Works of Nikolai Leskov" as a Marxist evaluation of the value in oral story versus the written novel. Near the beginning of the essay, Benjamin writes, "Experience which is passed on from mouth to mouth is the source from which all storytellers have drawn...'When someone goes on a trip, he has something to tell about,' goes the German saying." Benjamin argues that the storyteller fulfills the purpose of giving counsel to his/her listeners. The storyteller provides the community with a wealth of knowledge--whatever the storyteller has seen or heard, so the community of listeners has seen and heard. The story of the teller "contains, openly or covertly, something useful. The usefulness may, in one case, consist in a moral; in another, in some practical advice; in a third, a proverb or maxim" (Benjamin, 3).

This section of his essay is of particular interest to me. I spent five months studying in Cheltenham, England, last spring (2007). When I wrote to or chatted with my family and friends back in the states, I essentially took on the role of storyteller. Rather than saying something dull such as, "First we went to the cathedral. Then we went to the gardens. Then we--," I would try to bring my adventures to life for the people with whom I conversed. I felt a drive to bring out the most important details about the new people I met, the trouble I ran into, the lessons I learned. Perhaps through this creative/inventive storytelling process, I saw my time in England holding not only significance for me, but for my listeners. Is this a selfish desire--that I want everyone to think that each experience I have is significant? Perhaps in a way, it is. But I think that Walter Benjamin would say that it is an unselfish act to tell my story, because through my counsel, others gain wisdom and a greater understanding of the world around them. Benjamin believes that a major reason for the decline of storytelling lies in the fact that "the epic side of truth, wisdom, is dying out" (3).

Another reason for the decline of storytelling, Benjamin claims, is the prevalence of information and news. Rarely does one hear a story "without already being shot through with explanation" (4). That was/still is a hardship I face when I talk about my England experience. I desire to tell everything, every detail--and explain why I felt every emotion and how I thought I matured and who/what/where/when/why/how...yeah, it gets somewhat analytical after awhile and it loses a great deal of the art that dwells in the connections that the audience must make without guidance. I know that I have a great deal to learn when it comes to telling my story--I need to master the art of telling without telling it all, so that my listeners find wisdom in a manner that builds their own discernment.