"The Power of Storytelling" by Selen Morgan

Recently, I’ve developed an interest in Elif Shafak, a Turkish-British novelist, woman and minority rights activist, political scientist, and public speaker. It began with her award-winning novel, The Bastard of Istanbul, followed by 10 Minutes and 38 Seconds in This Strange World and her most recent, The Island of Missing Trees.

My initial interest stemmed in part, due to a shared heritage. I am half Turkish Cypriot and found Shafak’s vivid descriptions of Turkey of great interest, however, after reading her first book, I realized that Shafak, like many writers had a lot more to say than mere fantasy. 

Shafak uses storytelling to bring light to a range of controversial topics, which include Turkish and European politics, woman and minority rights, democracy, child abuse and genocide.  

In a recent interview, Shafak said that, ‘as a storyteller, of course I’m very interested in stories, but I’m equally interested in silence... I’m always drawn to those subjects that we can’t always talk about – whether it’s political taboos, sexual taboos, or cultural taboos – and there’s a desire in me to say why is it like that? Can we please talk about this now because we haven’t done so?’

In a recent TedTalk, Shafak describes how we all live within a circle, be it social or cultural. We are born into a certain family, nation, or class and if we have no connections with the worlds beyond which we take for granted and stay within our cultural cocoons, we are surrounded only by our mirror image. In doing so, we form clusters based on similarity and can produce stereotypes of other people. One way of transcending these clusters is through the art of storytelling, 'stories can’t demolish frontiers, but they can punch holes in our mental walls and through those holes, we can get a glimpse of the other and sometimes even like what we see.’ When we read a novel, we leave the comfort of our familiar surroundings and go out into the night alone. We get to know people we’ve never met before and perhaps even been bias against: fiction connects us, stories transcend us. 

Whilst you may find my insights on Shafak’s writing interesting, you might wonder why I am writing a blog post on this matter. As a part of a communications agency that builds brands, creates narratives, and works to connect those dots with specific audiences, the use of language and storytelling is at the heart of everything we do. 

Successful communication is more than conveying information; it’s about engaging your audience and striking an emotional chord powerful enough to both connect with and compel the target audience into action. Storytelling connects us, it allows us to experience information rather than consume it and consider other points of views which we may not have given weight to before.