“Stories are the building blocks of the human experience. From „once upon a time,“ to „the end,“ humans make sense of the world through stories.”[1]
Everything you can think about is made up of stories, even texts and emails. Storytelling can be found in all different forms scattered around in human societies, from myths and legends to religion. It is one of the oldest and most important art forms known to humankind. Storytelling has evolved from visual (cave drawings), to oral, from written to digital.[2]
About storytelling through time
The visual storytelling is over 36.000 years old, and the oral storytelling over 50.000 years old. The oldest form of visual storytelling are the cave paintings found in the Chauvet caves in southern France, depicting the everyday and reflecting on events. Another common form of drawing was the use of hieroglyphs in ancient Egypt. With drawing pictographic characters as symbols and sounds it was also a form of writing and is recognised as one of the world’s oldest writing systems. The visual storytelling kept evolving over the years and became an important form of preserving history and legends. Historical examples of visual storytelling have been found in Egyptian pyramids, on ancient Greek vases and frescoes, Chinese tapestries, statues, canvases, and through the evolution of technology also through photographs and video.[3] [4]
Oral storytelling is one of the oldest forms of storytelling, dating back to the origins of speech, estimated between 50,000 to 2 million years ago. Songs, chants and epic poetry were used to tell stories, and were handed down from generation to generation. These stories were eventually written and published. Oral storytelling remains a popular and essential part of human connection.[5] [6]
Key storytelling techniques include pacing, pauses, comedy, and drama, which have propelled storytelling from intimate fireside gatherings to grand theatrical productions like Greek tragedies. The Greeks introduced structured storytelling elements such as the protagonist, antagonist, and chorus, influencing modern theatre, including the Broadway industry.[7]
Today, oral storytelling remains widely practiced, with modern platforms like podcasts, YouTube, and everyday conversations keeping it alive. Political figures also utilize storytelling to engage and persuade audiences, making it a fundamental skill in contemporary society.[8]
Compared to visual and oral storytelling, written storytelling is very young dating back around 9000 years. The earliest examples of human writing come from the Sumerians and Egyptians with their hieroglyphics. Drawings slowly evolved into writing. Writing changed the course of storytelling. It gave the humans the possibility to be immortalized, as well as preserving the true story. Through oral storytelling a lot of stories were altered and can’t be taken as facts. Written storytelling has placed importance on the wealthy and essentially gave added power to education.[9]
The youngest form of storytelling is digital storytelling. Digital storytelling is photography, moving images, sound, or the combination of different elements and also adding still images and text. Photography has the ability to communicate stories through emotions, mood, narrative, ideas and messages. They evoke emotions and empathy. So do sound and video. A few examples of modern storytellers are writers, musicians, journalists, filmmakers, performers, and educators.[10]
Gilgamesh
The oldest story that has been deciphered from the ancient times was Gilgamesh. The story is about an ancient Mesopotamian king who lived around 2700 BC. This story has a structure, where the beginning has an action-packed adventure, and is followed by a character’s development over the course of his quest and finally ending in a climax where he is finally able to complete the adventure. Here can the hero’s journey already be found.[11]
Bibliography
Cosby, Annie. “Once Upon a Time: A Brief History of Storytelling,” Freewrite, March 19, 2024. Accessed January 30, 2025, https://getfreewrite.com/blogs/writing-success/stories-the-building-blocks-of-the-human-experience
EM, “The History and Future of Storytelling,” A Quintillion Words, December 15, 2021. Accessed January 30, 2025, https://aquintillionwords.com/2021/12/15/the-history-and-future-of-storytelling/.
Mendoza, Melissa. “The Evolution of Storytelling,” Reporter, May 1, 2015. Accessed January 30, 2025, https://reporter.rit.edu/tech/evolution-storytelling.
Parkes, Daniela. “A Brief History of Storytelling: How Long Has It Existed?,” Daniela Parkes, May 6, 2024. Accessed January 30, 2025, https://danielaparkes.com/blog/brief-history-of-storytelling/.
TrueEditors, “The Evolution of Storytelling,” True Editors, June 1, 2022. Accessed January 30, 2025, https://www.trueeditors.com/blog/the-evolution-of-storytelling/.
This blog content was translated by artificial intelligence.
[1] Cosby, Annie. “Once Upon a Time: A Brief History of Storytelling,” Freewrite, March 19, 2024. Accessed January 30, 2025, https://getfreewrite.com/blogs/writing-success/stories-the-building-blocks-of-the-human-experience
[2] Parkes, Daniela. “A Brief History of Storytelling: How Long Has It Existed?”, Daniela Parkes, May 6, 2024. Accessed January 30, 2025, https://danielaparkes.com/blog/brief-history-of-storytelling/.
[3] Parkes, “A Brief History of Storytelling: How Long Has It Existed?”
[4] Mendoza, Melissa. “The Evolution of Storytelling,” Reporter, May 1, 2015. Accessed January 30, 2025, https://reporter.rit.edu/tech/evolution-storytelling.
[5] Parkes, “A Brief History of Storytelling: How Long Has It Existed?”
[6] Mendoza, “The Evolution of Storytelling”
[7] Parkes, “A Brief History of Storytelling: How Long Has It Existed?”
[8] Parkes, “A Brief History of Storytelling: How Long Has It Existed?”
[9] Mendoza, “The Evolution of Storytelling”
[10] Cosby, Annie. “Once Upon a Time: A Brief History of Storytelling,” Freewrite, March 19, 2024. Accessed January 30, 2025, https://getfreewrite.com/blogs/writing-success/stories-the-building-blocks-of-the-human-experience
[11] EM, “The History and Future of Storytelling,” A Quintillion Words, December 15, 2021. Accessed January 30, 2025, https://aquintillionwords.com/2021/12/15/the-history-and-future-of-storytelling/.
