Interpersonal Communication and Arthur Frank's "The Wounded Storyteller"

Essay by ThisKidHereUniversity, Bachelor'sB, March 2006

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Storytelling and Healing: A Relationship of Mutuality

"I will put my words in his mouth and he will speak to them all."

(Deut 18:18)

Though Arthur Franks "The Wounded Storyteller's" primary theme is centered around illness, it has a deeper underlying context. The Wounded Storyteller is a thorough and comprehensive contribution to the multi-layered vision of healing. At the core, the author urges the reader to find their voice and emphasizes the importance of exploring a multitude of narratives around experiences. Frank stresses on the idea that storytelling is an intrinsic element of the healing process, an ingrained aspect of communication and a fundamental ingredient to human understanding. This book communicates to all of us who are trying to figure out who we are, how to connect with other people, and are seeking to understand our relation to the world.

Sooner or later we are all wounded storytellers who endure the suffering of the world and as wounded storytellers we are "trying to survive and help others survive in a world that does not immediately make sense (Frank, Storyteller, xiii)."

What speaks loud and clear throughout The Wounded Storyteller is that the image of this wounded storyteller is in actuality, an image of what it is to be human and that storytelling is a natural part of being and understanding humankind. It is a form of communication that we have been practicing for thousands of years. Storytelling heals our inner selves and challenges our beliefs. It is an outlet for the silent and a way of communicating our experiences. The exchange of stories teaches us how to live; we are born and raised in stories and stories aid us in comprehending our relation to others and to the world- they help us answer questions about ourselves, human existence and provide...