This is very different from classic tales ( Erzählungen) which do not contain any interpretation, and which avoid psychological explanations. Such information is provided in an easily digestible form. Section 6 observes that the new dominant form of communication is information, as disseminated by the press and other mass media. The novel form implies the profound cluelessness ( Ratlosigkeit) of the individual. Section 5 says that the novel is the only form of prose fiction which does not come from an oral tradition or express itself orally. Section 4 defines a storyteller as someone who can give practical advice ( Rat, Ratschläge) to his or her listeners however, the communicability of experience is decreasing. Section 3 explains that Leskov uses Russian legends in such a way as to avoid mystical exaltation he combines the fantastical with the practical. The third type of storyteller derives from the medieval craftsman, who would travel around before settling down. Hebel and Jeremias Gotthelf (whose works are rooted in a particular locality), and Sealsfield and Gerstäcker (who specialise in foreign adventure stories).

Section 2 identifies two ancient types of storyteller: the sedentary farmer who tells local stories and the seafaring merchant who tells tales of far-away places. One example of this is the silence of war veterans. Section 1 asserts that we are becoming less capable of talking about our experiences, and poorer in terms of communicable experiences.

In addition to Leskov, Benjamin makes frequent reference to Johann Peter Hebel, the early 19th-century German humourist whose comic tales he greatly admired. Benjamin regards the story as a direct relative of the Märchen (fairy tale) and the Schwank (comic tale). For Benjamin, this genre is qualitatively different from more modern genres of fiction such as the novel and the ‘short story’. Benjamin celebrates the traditional genre of the ‘tale’ or ‘story’ ( Erzählung), which he sees as a manual and oral craft, rooted in traditional folk culture and oral storytelling. This essay takes the works of the Russian writer Nikolai Leskov (1831-1895) as a springboard for a more general meditation on the craft of storytelling. Reflections on the Work of Nikolai Leskov (1936) Betrachtungen zum Werk Nikolai Lesskows The Storyteller.

Benjamin the storyteller