storytelling

Storytelling is the act of conveying events, ideas, or experiences through a structured narrative that commonly includes character, setting, plot, and point of view. It spans oral, written, visual, and interactive media and serves to entertain, inform, persuade, and preserve cultural memory. Narrative structures typically follow a progression such as setup, complication, climax, and resolution, though variations abound across cultures.

Historically, storytelling began in oral traditions where communities transmitted myths, laws, and histories. The invention of writing, the printing press, and modern media expanded reach and fidelity, allowing narratives to persist across generations and geographies. In contemporary society, storytelling occurs in literature, film, television, journalism, advertising, video games, and digital platforms, often combining multiple modalities.

Common elements include plot, characters, setting, conflict, and theme. Techniques encompass narrative perspective, pacing, imagery, symbolism, dialogue, and voice. Storytellers tailor structure and language to audience and purpose, from intimate personal tales to vast epics, while media providers adapt form to different platforms and senses.

Forms of storytelling include oral storytelling, written prose, cinema and television, documentary and journalism, and interactive or transmedia experiences in games and online media. Storytelling can be used for entertainment, education, cultural transmission, memory keeping, and social or political persuasion.

The functions of storytelling include shaping collective identity, fostering empathy, simplifying complex information, and guiding behavior or debate. The ethics of storytelling concern representation, accuracy, attribution, consent, and the avoidance of harm or misrepresentation.

Scholarly theories address how stories influence understanding, memory, and action through concepts such as narrative transportation, coherence, and fidelity. As technology evolves, storytelling continues to diversify with user-generated content, data storytelling, and immersive formats like virtual and augmented reality.