Myth-making and the urban: Alienation, folklore and (re-)enchanting to land

Performance storytelling in the UK frequently celebrates a vision of pre-industrial literature and heritage – one which, just as in genre fantasy, is intertwined with magical elements and a portrayal of a more harmonious connection between communities and the green landscape. As a storyteller and a fan of storytelling, I wholly recognise the appeal of this antidote to the grimmer excesses of modern life, not least for the identity and belonging it can offer those who grew up in middle-class suburban Britain, and for the inspiration it can offer for environmental conservation. Indeed, many storytellers attempt to address humanity’s current destructive relationship with the environment through the telling of traditional tales: in sharing a pre-industrial perspective on land, and evoking wonder in the growing environment, it is believed we can re-inspire ways of interacting with the physical world that are more imaginative, respectful and (in Weber’s term) ‘enchanted’. Without denying the benefits of ‘eco-storytelling’, in this chapter I highlight the influence of a distinctly British nostalgia and romanticisation on this construction of storytelling, particularly in its privileging of rural/wild space, and suggest that this limits its application. Cultural criticism, mythography and oral history theory jointly imply that story-making remains a key element in how humans apply structure and meaning to lived experience – and (as shown by cultural geographers, collectors of ‘urban legends’ and authors from Garner to Gaiman) this is still true of our relationship with modern, built spaces. I argue that the designation and privileging of pre-industrial traditions – and indeed the distinction between urban and rural space – can be understood as stories in themselves, born of attempts to make sense of industrial urbanisation; but that, rather than undermining efforts to address environmental damage through stories, this understanding enhances our work as tellers of tales, in any medium. It enables a more intimate awareness of the meaning we seek in stories, the distinctions and categorisations we apply to them, and the choices we make in what we tell or listen to, or watch, or read. And it reveals that urban, built space should receive equal attention in re-enchantment through storytelling: not only is there a rich seam of modern folklore here that is underrepresented in UK storytelling work, but stepping beyond our common parameters will open our creative practise to audiences we otherwise neglect – thus promoting social integration, celebrating diversity and engaging directly with the enchantment of those spaces where much of the population live and work.