Short stories: a short history

In the same way that noone actually knows when the first cocktail was mixed – much less what it was – no one actually knows when the first short story was written. It’s safe to say, however, that this particular writing form had its nascence certainly no later that 3000 bc – possibly first inscribed by the Babylonians on clay tablets in cuneiform style. But with the discovery of papyrus by the Egyptians around this same time, the written word became more accessible and garnered a much wider readership around the Ancient World. The Fables of Aesop (often short, didactic narratives) were popularised around this time. However, with the invention of paper, by a Chinese eunuch during the Eastern Han Dynasty, (circa 105 ad), the written word – not least the fictional one – spread far and wide. Chinese folk tales, particularly those involving ghosts and magic, quickly developed into a literary genre and have remained so ever since. Other obvious early versions of the short story, can be found in the parables of the New Testament of the Bible  –  The Parable of the Rich Young Man, for example  –   and in One Thousand and One Nights\ Sinbad the Sailor (Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves, for example) written and collected during the Islamic Golden Age; late 700s to mid 1300s. From there, the short story appeared along all points of the compass – variously as a romance, a comic tale or a tragedy. Among its merits is the form’s brevity. In short, it doesn’t become preoccupied with side trips exploring usually unsatisfactory sub plots which have little or no bearing on the story itself. Thus, in an age where attention spans have probably reached an all-time low, the reader is able to remain closely in touch with the narrative throughout the read. That aside, though, the short story – given its concise nature – offers a relatively fast-moving plot line, embellished by quickly developed characters and settings.

But how short is short?

For most practical purposes, a story can be described as “short” when it can be comfortably read at a single sitting, though of course that’s open to differing interpretations of what amount of time constitutes a single sitting. That said, there is a genre within the short story form that most definitely can be read at a single sitting. This is known as flash fiction the length of which can range from six to 100 words (within this range is the “minisaga”, comprising 50 words). What’s ingenious about “short shorts;” as they’re sometimes known, is their ability to feed the imagination with a much broader, though unwritten narrative while appearing as little more than the faint outline of a plot. My favourite example of a six-word story is believed to have come from the pen of American jounalist and short-story writer, Ernest Hemingway. Succinct in the extreme, it evokes a sense of sadness as the depth of tragedy is heightened by what is implied between the lines; in other words, by what has not been written.

Here is that story in full:

“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”