In this paper the author draws extensively upon her personal experience in witnessing storytelling in the oncological wing of the Laiko Hospital of Athens during her hospitalization in September-October 2004. More spe...In this paper the author draws extensively upon her personal experience in witnessing storytelling in the oncological wing of the Laiko Hospital of Athens during her hospitalization in September-October 2004. More specifically, she concentrates on the presence of an inspired woman folk storyteller who, also a patient visited in the same period the hospital for personal treatment. Having the ability to tell a story skillfully, the specific storyteller ultimately tried with her narrations to ease the pain, both physical and spiritual, of patients that suffered from heavy or light forms of cancer, regardless of the fact that she herself was facing similar health problems. This essay sheds light on the persistence and function of tradition in our days and examines how illness and misfortune are ascribed and how the storyteller and listeners are connected. Her purpose is to find out what and how people learn and teach each other under special circumstances. This question has not been absent from the work of folklorists. The fieldwork was based on qualitative research, and the ethnographic method and collecting were used.展开更多
文摘In this paper the author draws extensively upon her personal experience in witnessing storytelling in the oncological wing of the Laiko Hospital of Athens during her hospitalization in September-October 2004. More specifically, she concentrates on the presence of an inspired woman folk storyteller who, also a patient visited in the same period the hospital for personal treatment. Having the ability to tell a story skillfully, the specific storyteller ultimately tried with her narrations to ease the pain, both physical and spiritual, of patients that suffered from heavy or light forms of cancer, regardless of the fact that she herself was facing similar health problems. This essay sheds light on the persistence and function of tradition in our days and examines how illness and misfortune are ascribed and how the storyteller and listeners are connected. Her purpose is to find out what and how people learn and teach each other under special circumstances. This question has not been absent from the work of folklorists. The fieldwork was based on qualitative research, and the ethnographic method and collecting were used.
