The danger of single stories

Children live a dull life. They have experienced so little. So, they rely on virtual stories to learn what could happen in the world around them. With the aid of the details in the stories, they picture a lifestyle that is regarded as normal.

​

The impact of stories happens to me when I was a little kid. Back at that time, my favorite book was Grimm's Fairy Tales. One day, when my grandparents were watching TV news, I asked a question that I had been curious about for several days. 

​

“Who is the princess of our country? Is she as beautiful as a princess in the fairy tales?”

My grandparents were confused, because the fact is, my country had abolished the monarchy long ago. The title of princess no longer exists. Even in the ages when we had an emperor, his daughters differ from the western princess greatly. 

​

Why did I believe there must be a princess in my country though I never heard any news about a princess? Single stories could be the reason. Every fairy tale has a princess, so I assume having a princess is a common rule of the world. 

​

Stories expose their readers to a faraway world and direct their assumption of things they never encounter. Single stories narrow down the tunnel people collect information about the world and make stereotypes the only image that remains in front of our eyes. Can I blame the Grimm brothers for they never wrote about a country without a royal family?  It is unfair because producers of single stories could also be victims of single stories. All countries have princesses is the single story that Grimm brothers were told. So they create more literature reflecting that single story. This is a vicious cycle.

According to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the lack of diversity in stories is a consequence of power imbalance. Are the empowered people who made this happen consciously or unconsciously? Did they hinder the spread of other stories on purpose?

​

Maybe we do not need the answer anymore, because the world has changed. Thank to the Internet, now, anyone can own cyberspace to tell diverse stories. These unprinted stories form a much larger collection of ways of living. As long as we narrate honestly, tell what we see instead of what we think to avoid telling more single stories, the supremacy of single stories could be overturned.