BGU English students have the pleasure of engaging with this fascinating subject in ‘Myth, Adaptation, Transformation’, a module exploring narratives from the works of Homer to Disney Pixar.
Such is the contemporary relevance of ‘re-telling’ old stories in new contexts that the module co-ordinator, Dr Amy Albudri, was invited to participated in the recent Yorkshire Festival of Story, sharing both her research and experience of the module’s subject matter. The lecture was attended by 300 participants on a global online platform and has since received a glowing review from the festival directors:
‘Settle Stories prides itself on sharing stories from diverse cultures across the globe, exploring traditional myths and folktales, and revealing current stories of today. We were therefore delighted to welcome Dr Amy Albudri as she presented her lecture: Is there ever such a thing as a new story? The hour-long session provided a fascinating insight into and analysis of the psychology behind why we retell old stories, critically examining pieces of modern media alongside works from the Ancient and Classical periods.
Although Dr Albudri’s notion that all stories could be plotted on graphs would certainly be a controversial notion to storytellers—who are always trying to come up with new stories to regale their audiences—it encouraged a discussion around why exactly we retell these stories. A good example of this was the story of Cinderella, which Dr Albudri explored from its origins through various metamorphoses. When asked why they thought Cinderella continues being retold to this day, many of the participants had the same answer: Cinderella gives hope for a better future. Ultimately there are no new stories, but rather new ways of telling them for every generation’.
As a public event it was great to see many BGU students participating in the Yorkshire Festival of Story, especially since much of the programme reflected the texts and topics we offer as part of the English Undergraduate degree.
Further information about the festival, and its facilitating organisation, can be found here: https://www.settlestories.org.uk/