Reply to comment

I agree with you, Emily, that we must trace back to the origin of a story to completely understand its evolution. I do believe though that a story's significance is different for every individual (in response to your comment, "I believe it is the first story that holds the most meaning, for it has not gone the any processes of modification…it has not yet evolved"). I don't think the first story will always be the most significant -- have you ever played "Whisper Down the Lane"?

This game is a perfect example of how stories can be twisted & conformed over a short amount of time... where the meaning of each story may change regarding its interpretation as people hear different things "down the lane". But which story is the "correct" one bearing all the importance... the initial story or the story someone heard from the person in the line before him?

Technically, the initial story is the one that everyone should have heard, but the evolution of stories does not always follow this plan. Another example --the stories by Homer had been changed a million times by word of mouth before anyone documented them in books. Hearing a variation of a story (its evolution) allows for new meanings to arise and be generative...