Oldal 18 [18]
OCR
Part I. Interdisciplinary Approach to Storytelling | 17 crystallizes from elements of several texts (such as a national saga), even if they are passed down by word of mouth. Information transfer is the key to the survival and development of our species. In his theory of cultural transmission, Tomasello (2001) argues that the human species’ superiority over other primate species can be explained by its capacity for cultural learning, which is learning based on social cooperation. In the knowledge-transferring process, the child absorbs what the culture has to offer in a given social group and social context through linguistic interactions with members of his or her species (Tomasello, 2001). Narrative construction represents a specific form of cultural transmission, in which individual narratives reflect the emotions and experiences of the narrator. Narratives are links in a web of cultural memory, delivered to a recipient who identifies with the content of the narrative, reflects on it, creates a dialogue, establishes an analogy between his own life experiences and those of the narrator, and draws new knowledge from the lessons learned. Mythological or literary artifacts in certain cultural circles are works of cultural transmission. Donald (1993), based on his theory of cultural evolution, divides human cultural evolution into distinct stages, each of which is associated with a specific system of representation and knowledge transfer. In the mimetic culture, human knowledge transfer was characterized by mimesis (i.e., imitation). Later, in the mythic culture, language emerged as a form of representation and communication, together with verbal semantic memory and the use of linguistic symbols. The ability to create narratives can also be linked to this period, which represented a leap forward in terms of information transmission since narratives are systematic and logical sets of information that contribute to the reception and interpretability of the message. Donald (1993) views human cultural evolution in terms of cognitive representational systems, all of which are embedded in human mental architecture. During the period of episodic culture, our primate ancestors lived their lives in the present, experiencing the world as a series of episodes. The social sharing of experiences was not yet typical of humanity, as the communication tools of self-expression had not yet developed; therefore we cannot speak of a separate system of representation. Conscious representation of memories only became present in the next period with the development of mimetic culture, when mimesis (i.e. conscious imitation) appeared in communities of homo erectus based on social structures. The major difference with the previous period was that this was already a conscious representation of events in the context of social action. An important role in communication was played by the prosodic control of body language and voice: the conscious manipulation of tone volume and accent which was not yet speech. The real breakthrough was the gradual emergence of spoken language in the process of becoming human. Following the development of mythic culture, humanity acquired the ability to create and decode verbal semantic memory leading to the use of linguistic symbols and narrative. Sharing stories about reality
