Power of stories

The most rewarding aspect of working on a show like The World Is Telling Stories has been discovering new cultures. We often talk about Africa, or African culture, which gives the impression of homogeneity. That is an illusion. Whilst it is certainly not the same thing as first-hand experience, researching each country, its food, its traditions, its stories, has helped me appreciate the similarities between cultures but also their differences. Throughout Africa, community is very important but the nuance is what makes each ethnic group so unique. Some cultures have a cult of the ancestor, where the ancestors are the representatives and intermediaries of the gods, while others worship the community as a whole, that is to say members past, present and future.

It has also helped me gain a better understanding of ideas I was already familiar with. For example, I thought I understood animism, the idea that objects and plants have a soul, but my understanding of it was purely intellectual. It wasn’t until I read a story written from that perspective that I truly grasped what it meant. As the protagonist pursued his goals, the author regaled us with the reactions of the wind, the fears of flowers or trees, the envy of rocks. Every element of the story world was alive and they each impacted the story with their own agency. That is an immense paradigm shift from the traditional western view of the story world as a backdrop.