The storytelling festival as ritualization of the storytelling revival mythos

I would suggest that in the liminoid spaces of storytelling festivals, where the primary communal mythos of the revival is being built, the ancient story of transgression and redemption is woven again, in metaphoric resonance with the stories told from the stage. A powerful subtext of these outward performances is the wonder tale of the storyteller herself, framed by the magic circle of the festival spotlight as the hero/ine of a cultural quest. Through the pilgrimage of the performing artist's path, she seeks to redeem society from its Hamlin-like sin of denying story and the primal unity that is story's gift. The storytelling festival became, for its most involved participants, a way of enacting a ritualized happy ending to the tale of the storyteller's journey. For the teller on stage, the festival is a homecoming, a redemption, a wedding of teller to traditions and to an idealized community. For the committed audience, the festival is redeeming, too: a homecoming to a kingdom in which storytelling is restored to its rightful place at the center of community life.