Storyteller is looking for stories containing surrealism and psychological depth

[Govende]

Hi,

I would like to tell stories to adult people which entertain, fascinate and make you think.

Therefore I'm looking for modern stories which contain surrealism or symbolism and (social-) psychological depths.

Like a contemporary fairytale with an also modern moral or lesson.

Can anybody help me?

[JCamilo]

Do you mean for traditional oral storytelling? Are you going to adapt it or kept the original text ?

[OrphanPip]

Angela Carter is famous for reworking fairy tales with more contemporary twists. Often a sexual or violent twist though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bloody_Chamber

[YesNo]

I remember enjoying Tanith Lee's Red as Blood or Tales from the Sisters Grimmer.

[Wilde woman]

I second OrphanPip's recommendation. Angela Carter does some great revisionist stuff with fairy tales. Robin McKinley has also done some stuff with the Beauty and the Beast legend.

There also seems to be a trend of rewriting fairy tales as erotica which could help you explore the psychological side of fairy tales. Anne Rice did a very loose adaptation of the Sleeping Beauty legend. More recently Nancy Madore has put out a few books on erotic fairy tales.

And if you're looking for useful criticism on fairy tales, look up Jack Zipes and Bruno Bettelheim. The latter was a psychoanalyst who applied Freudian interpretations to fairy tales. We're using his book, The Uses of Enchantment, for my myth/fairy tale class.

Good luck!

[Govende]

Do you mean for traditional oral storytelling? Are you going to adapt it or kept the original text ?

-I will try to tell the story as original possible but that doesnt mean I will literally stick to all the words. This would be a really difficult task and askes a lot of acting skills to make it sound naturally.
In order to personalize the story I will tell it more or less in my own words to give a real own story instead of a memorized or amature acted one.

[Govende]

@OphanPip and @WildWoman:

Thanx, ...interesting, I'll look it up, but of course these stories I can't tell to everybody in any situation, people might feel uncomfortable including me ;-)

[Govende]

@YesNo; I'll appreciate your recommendation, thank you!

[JCamilo]

-I will try to tell the story as original possible but that doesnt mean I will literally stick to all the words. This would be a really difficult task and askes a lot of acting skills to make it sound naturally.
In order to personalize the story I will tell it more or less in my own words to give a real own story instead of a memorized or amature acted one.

Both are hard, but well, Oscar Wilde has a few short stories that can be easily told. You may seek some of Robert Louis Stevenson short stories, the guy was a storyteller himself. Edgar Allan Poe The Cask of Amontillado or The Black cat can be well adapted. Borges Two kings and one labyrinth works as well. Isaak Dinensen short stories are almost born to be told. Depending your public, Hans Christian Andersen is a must. I have seen Sommerset Maughun told too. You can easily pick Chaucer and Bocaccio and adapt to some modern scenario (or not) and play around with Tennyson narrative poems.

[Janine]

D.H.Lawrence's "Rocking Horse Winner". I used to dislike this story, because they always presented it to one in high school; but now I do see the brilliance of it. I have watched the movie version, as well, from the 60's and it's quite good.