In recent years I have come to discover that not everyone has an internal monologue, which helps with narrating the text that is being read internally, and for me personally allowing to configure a fictional performance and visualized experience of the story. This often comes in handy when reading, for it allows for me to return to the moment, and experience the story over and over again without the primary text close by. Similar to a movie or a recorded performance, when reading the story internally, it allows fro a separation from the text. As it plays out in my mind with a familiar voice, though it is not my own. The story is experienced, with sound effects, and fragments of real life experiences. It is a performance that is more personal in connection than any other, between reader and text.
While when the story is read out loud, there was a higher level of attention paid to the pronunciation and to the connections formed between each word. There is a strange urge to read the text with a voice that moves, and takes on the personality of the text. The narration is no longer partial to personal experiences, instead, it is a voice that changes and works to build tension and it relies on the energy of all those who are listening. The story comes alive and the images now play before your eyes. As the readers body morphs to depict the images of the story. However in this performance, there are restrictions based solely on the readers abilities and the laws of nature. The story relies on reactions, as validation for what is well received and what is in need of change. By reading the text out loud, it is possible to breath air into the lungs of the story, allowing it to now live in a shared experience, that creates connections between to people and a moment. The story is no longer just alive, but instead it is now living.
It is the connections we make with each other that allow for us to understand. As we describe ourselves as stories, both to our selves and to others. We surround ourselves with stories of our worse fears and greatest dreams and everything that can possibly fall in-between. King, introducing himself through stories allows for there to be an understanding of his interpretation of the stories he is viewing and further more depicting. By imagining a version of Kings stories they now share intellectual property with the reader, they are now a connection, and a specific personal connections that differ from another reader and King himself. This in itself is a form of assumption, as it relies entirely on the reader. How ever when a story is shared, either with a person or even a space, it is no longer dependent on the assumptions and interpretations of a sole person but rather of all those who are experiencing the story together. Even when alone in a room, the decorations and items that surround the presenter effect the reception and performance of the story.
As everything we experience cant help but be tinted by the colonial thought process. As it is such process that formulates our assumptions, and thoughts. Our only glimpse at perhaps what King describes as pre-colonial literature is when we are told stories through performance and the privlagdge of reading them out loud. That is why even when reading loudly alone, there are connections being formed with the room and everything that is imagined and in view. This was specially true for Coyote Makes a Deal with the King Of England as the story is written more in style with a poem, or a play and it encourages you to speak life into the words loudly and with great care. Writing the story in the same manner we are told stories by loved ones again plays into the pre-colonial structure of storytelling, rather than the conscious and formulated manner we go about storytelling in our colonial existence.
Stories live with us, we carry them within our bodies, but when we read them, when we perform them, loudly they come alive and are able to breath. It bonds all those who share that moment. Perhaps that is the greatest gift of stories, their ability to bring us together, to move us, make us feel and believe, and that is why we are more willing to look into and search for means of improving our abilities to tell stories.
From the AGO exhibition in 2018
Citation
English language arts: Oral storytelling. (n.d.). Retrieved March 06, 2021, from https://libguides.sd44.ca/c.php?g=691940&p=5081995
Faye Kirwin. (1970, April 27). The brain on storytelling: Building emotional connections. Retrieved March 06, 2021, from http://www.writerology.net/blog/post/2015/04/the-brain-on-storytelling-building-emotional-connections
Hillerich, K. (2015, December 18). Creating emotional connections: The psychology of emotional stories (a guest post by Faye Kirwin of Writerology). Retrieved March 06, 2021, from http://inkandquills.com/2015/12/18/creating-emotional-stories/
King, T. (n.d.). Godzilla vs. POST‐COLONIAL. Retrieved March 05, 2021, from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17449859008589128
Robinson, H. (n.d.). Coyote Makes a Deal with the King Of England. Retrieved March 06, 2021.
Stewart, J. (2020, February 04). People have discovered that not everyone has an inner monologue and it has sparked a dialogue online. Retrieved March 05, 2021, from https://mymodernmet.com/inner-monologue/
Webeck, D. (2016, July 09). The art of oral storytelling – and how you can start it with your kids. Retrieved March 05, 2021, from http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/toddler/education-play/the-forgotten-art-of-oral-storytelling-and-how-you-can-start-it-with-your-kids-20160709-gq23iw
Hello Mia!
Thank you so much for sharing that link to the article regarding inner monologues – I definitely have one, and had no clue that wasn’t universal! It makes the differences between silent reading and verbal storytelling so much easier to understand for me; much of what I struggled with when reading Robinson was finding a way to reconcile his voice with my own, and the fact that that was a challenge when reading silently is likely heavily influenced by my inner monologue. 🙂 Absolutely fascinating!!
I love your characterization of “performing” stories – I think that element of performance is what King finds so apparent in Robinson’s oral voice. In many ways it reminds me of sheet music – there’s a code to follow that, when performed out loud, reveals itself to be a work of art.
Cheers,
Magda
Hi Mia,
I really enjoyed your blog this week! It really resonated with me when you mentioned the internal dialogue that is familiar but not your own. I also resonate with the point you raised that this dialogue changes with each book we read.
I wonder if the way we interpret the reading is the way the writer intended for it to be, or if we put our own spin on it based off of our own life experiences?
All the best, Lenaya
Hello Mia!
I found your blog post to be really interesting to read! It also came as a shock to me that not everyone has an internal monologue because I definitely have one, however, since I was young I still prefer to read stories aloud. I normally read stories out loud because I can remain focused on the narrative whereas when I read quietly I get distracted easily. However, your point about internal reading is “similar to a movie or a recorded performance, when reading the story internally, it allows for a separation from the text” is why I find reading some stories internally are more beneficial. I find that reading stories with an internal dialogue allows my imagination to run away and build a better connection to the story. I think there are benefits to reading stories both aloud and internally, as reading with a voice allows you to appreciate the narration and grammatical structure of the story but reading internally allows you to build a strong connection with the authors’ dialogue!