How can we spread peaceful messages through storytelling?
In this presentation, Visualising Peace student Kim Wahnke discusses some of the research she has been doing on storytelling for peace, drawing on a wide range of disciplines. In particular, she considers how we can deploy transformational storytelling in the educational context to deepen understanding of peace and peacebuilding and drive positive change. Below the video, you can find a summary of the publications she discusses. These are also available in our Visualising Peace Library.
Senehi, J. (2002). Constructive Storytelling: A Peace Process. Peace and Conflict Studies, 9(2). doi:https://doi.org/10.46743/1082-7307/2002.1026.
The article centres on the extraordinary persuasive and connective power of storytelling. Due to being accessible to anyone at any point in time (no literacy, no equipment required) it can be an important tool for creating a sense of a shared humanity. The example of French author Desmond is evoked: he saved prisoners from being killed by Nazi German soldiers through telling stories which made the guards feel the prisoner’s humanity. The article uses this to distinguish between the potential of storytelling to disrupt dominant narratives and foster understanding (constructive storytelling) but also its potential to reinforce systems of oppression and stereotypes (destructive storytelling). According to the author, it is intention, method and the context of constraints that can make storytelling constructive or destructive.
This article illustrates that at the very base level, stories can connect us to our shared humanity, fostering understanding and empathy and are therefore central for making peace. Since storytelling operates on levels of knowledge, but also identity, socialisations, emotions and morality, this makes stories a space for people to connect their own and other’s perceptions. Storytelling is a tool that has immense amounts of power for peace, since it can foster collaborative power and be a means of resistance against stories that dehumanise and oppress. But systems of oppression and unjust and biased perceptions of reality are often also based on stories. This article therefore specifically highlights storytelling and stories as a double-edged sword for peacebuilding, having to be used with the right intentions and methods.
Lloyd Kornelsen (2013). The Role of Storytelling at the Intersection of Transformative Conflict Resolution and Peace Education. Storytelling, Self, Society, 9(2), p.237. doi:https://doi.org/10.13110/storselfsoci.9.2.0237.
The paper is written from the perspective of a teacher, looking at how storytelling can be used for both peace education and transformative conflict resolution. The author uses an example of her own class, where her students viewed refugees as the “other” in a discussion. In response, one student told her own story of being a refugee. For the pupils, understanding the story from a first person perspective was what made it so impactful and gave it the potential to counter discourses around “othering”. To the author, the central purpose of storytelling for peace education is teaching children that war is learned and can therefore be unlearnt, therefore giving them the chance to envision peaceful futures.
This article explores the power that storytelling has within the realm of peace education. A transformation of mindsets in the classroom is rarely linked to what a teacher or educator has said, but instead happens when the students engage with different perspectives on their own, as illustrated by the example of the refugee story. Teaching peace education therefore becomes less of an endeavour to transmit knowledge and impose values, but to find a way for children to connect to the topic on their own, for example through stories. Introducing children to the idea that war is not a biological or historical inevitability is a good starting point for peace education through storytelling. Making this the first aim of the peace educator and connecting it to the method of learning through personal storytelling can have a powerful impact on how we teach peace education.
Senehi, J. (2021). Generating Discursive Resources: Storytelling for Positive Peace. In: The Palgrave Handbook of Positive Peace. Springer Nature, pp.1149–1167. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0969-5_60.
According to the article, the key to resolving conflicts, (re)building societies, and creating sustainable futures is to foster meaningful human relationships. Stories can help people to understand others’ life experience, see different options when addressing a problem, and to imagine more possibilities. This is what the author calls “generating discursive resources for peacebuilding”. In order for stories to have this potential, they have to promote shared power, mutual recognition, and awareness as well as be conscious of power relations between tellers and listeners and their tellers credibility. To overcome potential teller/ listener divides in storytelling workshops, the author suggests connection through low-risk, but still personal stories (e.g. the story of the person’s name).
Since the article defines human interaction and relationships as the key for sustainable peace, storytelling can become an important backdrop for understanding and interaction to develop. The article meaningfully illustrates the fundamental role of storytelling in creating human relationships and furthering peace, both through keeping communities together (community stories) as well as approaching other communities and creating intercommunal dialogue. The article also highlights the strong vulnerabilities that exposing one’s stories can put onto participants and how peace-building requires a listener that is ready to respect and listen to his counterpart. The importance of a welcoming and non-hierarchical setting for meaningful interaction to occur is therefore important when examining which kinds of storytelling in which settings have the potential to further peace.