On October 9, 2024 we met with 楊雨樵 Yang Yu-Chiao, a full time performer and independent writer of oral traditional folktales, who also does research on narratology, story poetics and comparative storytelling in oral literature, drama and film. We talked in his studio at Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab 臺灣當代文化實驗場 C-LAB, where he currently is an artist in residence to work on: “The House of Onomatopoeia – Residential sound Collecting, Writing and Articulation Project”.
The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines Onomatopoeia as the naming of a thing or action by a vocal imitation of the sound associated by it (such as buzz or hiss), and cites Christian Marclay who said: “In comic books, when you see someone with a gun, you know it’s only going off when you read the onomatopoeias.”
We wanted to talk with Yu-Chiao, because we have been wondering, why we so much enjoy watching Taiwanese Puppet Play Performances or Taiwanese Opera Performances without understanding the actual language of the plots. Is it satisfying being led through performed emotions of suspense, excitement, melancholy and humor without understanding how exactly we are relating to these feelings? Is it liberating, mind opening to understand the story outside of its plot?
A long, long time ago, there was a little story who sat in the shade of an old, tall tree keeping its characters cool. A group of storytellers came along, and attracted by the story’s diamond like beauty, each one wanted to own it and put it into their pockets. “No,” said the little story, “the way you own me is by attaching a storyline to my core. Get out your yarn!” And so they did. They knotted their yarn around the story’s core and all went off into different directions…bang, bang, bang, bang, bang….
Our conversation with Yu-Chiao meandered into many directions, but the question we always returned to was this: What are the methods and techniques being used in folk tale telling, that transmit something from the content of the story without having to rely on the language?
Firstly, Yu-Chiao confirmed, that folk stories can be understood outside of the verbal language domain. As examples he mentioned several occasions, where he had told Taiwanese folk tales in Mandarin to audiences in Korea, Sweden and France. After all performances the children had said, they had understood, not everything, but most.
This, Yu-Chiao explained, might be a built-in characteristic of folk tales that developed over long periods of time. Traditionally folk tales were often told by business men, who traveled from place to place to trade in goods. The tales they told were not translated, so audiences from different cultures who spoke different languages learned to understand by guessing fragments of the story, by feeling emotions, and by becoming familiar with a certain formula of story-telling. First is the structure, then comes the plot. The plot, Yu-Chiao explained, takes on the formula and proceeds with it, the plot takes on the formula and drives it forward.
problem > journey > resolution
For example: Once upon a time, a young girl set out to find a cure for her mother’s illness. She encountered a wise old owl, a tricky fox, and a helpful fairy along the way. After many challenges, she found the magic flower, cured her mother, and returned home. And so, she learned the value of courage and kindness.
Or:
A clever fox tricks a hungry wolf into jumping into an empty well, promising a hidden feast below. As the wolf realizes he’s been fooled and sits in the trap, the fox trots away, proving that wit triumphs over strength.
Secondly, Yu-Chiao explained, folktales often include some sound secret within the language itself. Part of that secret is called onomatopoeia, the use of words that phonetically imitate or resemble the sounds they describe, like buzz for bees, grrrr for being angry or booom for loud sounds. Traditional storytellers use hundreds of them in their tales.
One technique or tool we noticed for example is the use of a beat, a rhythm. It can be hand clapping, or knocking on the table, it can be a bamboo stick hitting wooden fish, it can be the ringing of a bell or the hitting a gong.
Yu-Chiao first linked the use of percussion instruments to creating an atmosphere and further explained, that they are a convenient way to control the tempo, and when he added that “the drums are like the heartbeat of the story,” we suddenly pictured a story to be a living being, something that comes to life when the storytellers and their listeners create time and space for it to be born, grow, live, have an impact and die – like a little breeze or a big typhoon.
Amazing, now we already collected three things. We got the story formula and our familiarity with its patterns, we got the onomatopoeia, mimicking real objects or feelings through sounds and we got the heartbeat of the tale, which drives us forward with its rhythm, but isn’t there more?
What about the stretching of the words? Like Ooooooohhhhhhhh, my heart huuuuuuurts baaaaaheeeaaaadly.
Like Gregorian chanting, Yu-Chiao asked? Yes, like Gregorian chanting, or Buddhist chanting, or tragic songs in Taiwanese, Beijing, Italian opera ….any sort of practice or performance, where words become longer and longer and longer, we said.
When we speak, Yu-Chiao explained, we use the words like compressed files. We say them, we understand them and that’s it. We have exchanged some information, and when you tell a story very quickly it goes like this: A long time ago, there was a princess, she married a princess, a prince and a prisoner and they all lived happy together until they died. The End. You got it, but it doesn’t mean much.
Yet, when the storyteller releases the words into the atmosphere by stretching them out, the listener will discover that the words carry something else but their meaning. We know from symbolic theory, Yu-Chiao explained, that there is the signifier and the signified. The signifier is the sound, the shape, the outline, the material, which gives us clues that – ohhhhh —– maybe something else is the meaning. The sound is the way to the meaning but not the meaning itself. So, when you stretch the word into a sound, the sound will be independent from the word. Suddenly there exists more than the word.
Wow, we said in amazement, now we got four things. We got the formula and the plot, we got the onomatopoeia, we got the rhythm of the beat and we got the stretching of the words into sounds that have a different meaning than the words themselves, and then we looked at the time on our phones and said:
A long, long time ago we talked about the formula that the plot takes on to proceed with the story. Thinking back, we actually didn’t really understand what that means? Is a folk tale formula something like:
Problem, journey, resolution?
Question, journey, moral?
Misfortune, journey, conclusion?
In terms of formulas, Yu-Chiao explained, he thinks about the oral-formulaic theory in Anglo-Saxon poetry, also known as the Parry-Lord theory. It is a compositional model, developed by Milman Parry in the 1930’s and Albert Lord in the 1960’s that explains the creation of oral epic poetry. They initially applied their theory to the creation of Homer’s epics, providing a new understanding of its composition and performance, shifting the focus from individual authorship (Homer) to collective tradition and oral performance (many storytellers and authors).
Key Concepts – > as summarized post -interview by the new, amazingly proficient word juggler on the Internet: ChatGPT, which instead of STRETCHING out words is really “fond” of using BULLET POINTS.
- Formulas: Repeated groups of words, often with a specific metrical pattern, used to express a particular idea or concept. Formulas can be extended, modified, or combined to create new expressions.
- Traditional Patterns: A shared stock of formulas, themes, and narrative units inherited by oral poets from their tradition. These patterns are not individual creations but rather a collective cultural heritage.
- Oral-Formulaic Composition: The process by which oral poets generate poetry by drawing upon their internalized traditional patterns, including formulas, themes, and narrative units.
- Grammar of Poetry: The internalized rules and conventions governing the use of formulas, themes, and narrative units in oral poetry.
Implications
- Orality: The Parry-Lord theory emphasizes the oral nature of epic poetry, highlighting the importance of performance, improvisation, and audience interaction.
- Collective Creativity: The theory suggests that oral poetry is a collective endeavor, with poets drawing upon a shared tradition rather than individual creativity.
- Flexibility and Adaptability: Oral-formulaic composition allows for flexibility and adaptability in response to narrative and grammatical needs, enabling poets to improvise and modify their performances.
More about some of these key concepts soon.
If you want to find out more about Yu-Chiao’s work you can check out the following links:
- The house of Onomatopoeia, No.2 https://youtu.be/fOd2Vf4Dg8I
- Blackboard Scribophone (in South Korea) https://youtu.be/c9nXByeDEPI
- Mille Sonos- Anamorphosis & Anatexis https://youtu.be/arYoMAGULN4
