"The Pilgrims"- the act of storytelling

I completed the novel, The Pilgrims, by Mary Shelley this evening and was amazed at this novel as well and the way in which it discussed storytelling. I had to read this book for my 18th century and restoration British literature course and am now very glad I chose these tales as opposed to any other. Each of the tales in this book were based on legends or myths and resembled stories being re-told in a way. The forward by Kamila Shamsie (every time I see her last name I think it says “Shaman”) was quite intriguing because of how she addressed storytelling. She considers it “a medium for revealing the most intimate details of character, the key component to affecting reconciliation, or a means of confirming deep loss”, which I find to be very accurate. When I or others I know tell stories they usually do convey at least one of these elements that Shamsie has addressed. Shamsie also states that, “within each story, listeners and tellers are closely linked, yet in the world of fact we are entirely aware that however compelling each story is, it belongs to the world of fiction: its language and tone separating it by centuries from our contemporary lives”. This statement I both agree and disagree with. I do believe that each story is in some way fiction, but it is not necessarily completely fictional. To me stories are based on some sort of reality, experience or knowledge that is also truth. Storytelling to me represents the truth in a creative way. It is conveyed in a way that will reach to a larger audience so that they may take something from that. This I think is especially important in the literate culture because we want to somehow connect with the oral culture which is so “foreign” to us. By incorporating those “Real” elements into stories we are able to do so. The Pilgrims is a compilation of stories about stories. Each includes tellers, tales and audience.