Female storyteller brings new twist to old Jordanian tales
Sally Shalabi, a Palestinian-Jordanian storyteller, reinterprets the folk tales of the past to suit the events of the day, where women take on a more prominent role and are no longer bystanders.
When Sally Shalabi tells one of her stories, her strong and clear voice resonates with her audience in Jordan. Performing in cultural centers in the capital, Amman, as well as in refugee camps all over the country, the storyteller performs for large audiences, including children and the elderly, with a touch of humor and irony. She also sings, dances and impersonates. She plays the tambourine and sometimes uses an object such as a ring or a hat that symbolizes the story and its protagonists.
As a female storyteller, she changed her stage surname, Shalabieh, by feminizing her family name, Shalabi. She also refers to herself professionally as hakawatieh, a feminine version of the word hakawaty, which means storyteller, even though it is uncommon for such a grammatical change to be made in Arabic. Women get a new role in her stories as protagonists rather than passive characters.
The Palestinian-Jordanian storyteller, who lived in Kuwait until the age of 12, told Al-Monitor, “There are some traditional stories where the woman is passive — a pretty woman just trying to get married — and this is not the only narrative we want.”
She said that because she is the storyteller, she can change the narrative. "By shifting the dynamics, the stories — and women — have more power and are smarter. We want a smart society, not a society that is cute,” she said.
