Holding Space for Each Other's Stories: A Phenomenological Study of an Adolescent Story Slam

• In Event: 47.057 - Multimodal Art Practices for Well-Being and Storytelling

Abstract

This research features an investigation of the interactions between adolescent storytellers and audience members during a live storytelling event. Seven storytellers and seven audience members participated in extensive interviews describing their respective experiences. Utilizing a phenomenological design, the researcher identified four major essences of the participants’ collective experiences of connection and transaction between storytellers and audience members during the event including 1) the relational symbiosis of storytellers and audience members, 2) the nature of the story slam as a planned and produced event, 3) the storytellers’ inclusions of specific, personal details which resonated with specific, personal details in audience members’ lives, and 4) the storytellers’ intentional style and content choices which corresponded with reactions from audience members.

Author

• Jason Griffith, The Pennsylvania State University