What foundational myths influence our perception of our culture? Does story have power to shape and create new realities? And if so, do we as storytellers have the authority to choose how we shape our communities?
I've found that for the most part we do.
We as a people have shaped our lives, justified our very being, by resting our belief on a story we've been told about who we are and how we should live.
In American society, one can point to Disney movies, fairy tales, and Mother Goose riddles and rhymes, with their seeds of moral imperative wrapped subtly in a world of fantasy and lore. We find that they lead the way we live our lives.
Over the past five years in Brattleboro, a new narrative has started to take shape: “The One and Only Brattleboro.”
I guess it took us a while to realize we were the only town with that name; Google probably helped make this discovery possible. But it has now become a slogan, a catch-phrase to mean something more than just a name. It creates a reality here.
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As a 23-year-old Brattleboro native, I find the study of community and storytelling fascinating. For the last year, I've spent a lot of time learning about the power of sharing our stories with one another.
Two years ago, I studied abroad in Oman, a country of 3 million people on the Arabian peninsula, with the SIT Political Culture and Development Program. There, I did research on Omani conceptions of nation and nationhood, hoping to understand more about community cohesion and unity that I was sensing from my friends and host family.
Through this study, I found that many Omanis conceptualize Oman in almost the exact same way as we picture Brattleboro: as safe, secure, progressive, economically prosperous, peaceful, and full of culture.
I fell in love with Oman. The people, food, spices, religion, sounds, and air are so staggeringly rich and peaceful. I found myself longing to understand as much as I could take in about a society where people almost instantly forgive one another and are hospitable beyond courtesy.
So now, I am planning my second research period for this October to continue to understand this collective identity through the art of storytelling.
Folklore and oral tradition have a rich presence in Omani heritage, and I believe that in studying these tales, one can yield information about the way they have shaped perceptions of community and national memory.
I'm doing so because understanding how stories shape reality is significant for communities in the United States as well. I want to use this research to understand the roles that dominant narratives play, and to consider a means of perpetuating stories that empower healthy societies.
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I leave on Oct. 1 and will spend almost six months living with an Omani host family in the capital Muscat. I will spend that time working with Professor Mohammed al-Muqadam, head of the Department of History at Sultan Qaboos University, to collect and analyze the most prominent folktales of Omani and Arabian society.
At the end of May, upon completing a Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) course, I will return to Vermont to harvest the lessons I will have learned from my travels. I plan to develop a research paper of my findings as well as help archive the stories for the Omani community.
For our community in Brattleboro, I would like to host a forum on the distinction between reality and our interpretations leading into my analysis of the relationship between story and nationhood in Oman.
I think it's important that we honor stories in their own right, but also to acknowledge the freedom that comes from the ability to separate story from fact for community building.
I think Brattleboro is the perfect place for us, as a community, to recognize the recent tragedies and successes for what they are and to share a story that accurately reflects the perception we want to build for our community.