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The value of storytelling is evident to folklorists like Rachel Gholson'
Because of its importance, storytelling will be celebrated Saturday here in the Ozarks with Tellabration. It's a free event for all ages, a chance to hear a wide variety of tales told by local storytellers. Nancy Shelton is helping organize this weekend's event. She says anyone wanting to tell a story will have the chance to do so.One of the things that makes storytelling so exciting to some people is its demand for creativity. For hundreds of years, storytellers have adapted stories to their audience and its culture. Gholson says that's evident in stories like Cinderella, which has been adapted in places all over the world including Africa.
Though stories like Cinderella are now viewed as children's stories, Gholson says that wasn't always the case. Indeed, storytelling began as an adult pass time and originally, stories like Cinderella contained material best-suited for adults.
The value of storytelling to a society becomes lost as a society becomes ore literate'that's according to dr. Mark smith, an English professor at SMSU. He says as people begin to read printed material, the oral tradition becomes less prominent in society.
In an effort to revive the oral tradition that enriches culture and heritage, the storytellers of the Ozarks is hosting Tellebration. The free event begins tomorrow afternoon at 1 and will be held in the story hour room at the library center on South Campbell in Springfield. For more information, you may call 823-9707.