Audience response in storytelling
In short: A way of telling a story in which listeners answer the teller with short spoken replies.
Term
How does it work in the tale?
In the Kriol text of Hyena and Heron, the listeners sometimes confirm what happened and sometimes judge how a character behaved. Two readers can take those roles when reading aloud.
How does writing preserve the audience’s voice?
In the Guinea-Bissau Kriol text published by Couto, the teller’s words and the listeners’ short replies appear on separate lines. Even when the replies leave the plot unchanged, they show where the audience joins in. Reading the two parts aloud makes that rhythm easier to hear.