Thank you for this piece, Alisa. I write creative nonfiction and nature journalism, and have long thought that the hero's journey did not express women's way of telling stories or storytelling from non-European cultural traditions. But I haven't had a way to express my feeling that stories that don't conform to that conflict-driven model are valid and valuable. Thanks to you, I have a framework to conceptualize and perhaps even explain why I write the way I do. Blessings to you!
Susan, thank you so much for taking the time to offer this validating feedback! I also felt as you do, and when I saw the Le Guin quote it all made sense. Down the rabbit hole went I! We need to honor other ways of being in this world, and that includes storytelling! I am 1/4 Irish, and interestingly I've noticed the Irish pre-colonial traditions are similar to the puebloan, with storytelling and ways of being. I suspect the good-versus-evil binary has roots in modern interpretations of Christianity more than anything else, which was the framework within which Campbell was incubated. Wishing you nothing but the best with your writing!
One reason I love the work of Clarissa Pinkola Estés. It’s more myth and wisdom and parable than hero’s journey. Also see heroine’s journey, a feminist take on story structure.
https://alisav.substack.com/p/the-conflict-driven-narrative-a-storytelling
Thank you for this piece, Alisa. I write creative nonfiction and nature journalism, and have long thought that the hero's journey did not express women's way of telling stories or storytelling from non-European cultural traditions. But I haven't had a way to express my feeling that stories that don't conform to that conflict-driven model are valid and valuable. Thanks to you, I have a framework to conceptualize and perhaps even explain why I write the way I do. Blessings to you!
Susan, thank you so much for taking the time to offer this validating feedback! I also felt as you do, and when I saw the Le Guin quote it all made sense. Down the rabbit hole went I! We need to honor other ways of being in this world, and that includes storytelling! I am 1/4 Irish, and interestingly I've noticed the Irish pre-colonial traditions are similar to the puebloan, with storytelling and ways of being. I suspect the good-versus-evil binary has roots in modern interpretations of Christianity more than anything else, which was the framework within which Campbell was incubated. Wishing you nothing but the best with your writing!
One reason I love the work of Clarissa Pinkola Estés. It’s more myth and wisdom and parable than hero’s journey. Also see heroine’s journey, a feminist take on story structure.