Title: Taffy & Seaweed Soup
General Information about Item:
- Genre and Sub Genre
- Verbal Folklore: Superstition
- Language: English
- Country where Item is from: South Korea
Informant Data:
- The informant is Korean and was born in Korea but has also lived in Prague. She was raised by Korean parents, which led to her exposure of Korean culture. She is Catholic and her hobby is writing music. Her aspiration is to become a novelist and she has a fear of heights.
Contextual Data:
- Social Context: The informant learned about the superstition regarding the seaweed soup when her mother did not make her brother seaweed soup on the day of his birthday (it is customary in Korea to eat seaweed soup on birthdays). For the taffy-related superstition, the informant learned about it when receiving a box of pumpkin taffy from her mother when submitting her college applications.
- Cultural Context: The informant attributes these folklore to the superstitious nature of Korea. She also mentions that there are many pagan-like culture in Korea and that seaweed soup and pumpkin taffy are traditional food.
Item:
- Good Luck Superstition: Eating taffy before examination or test
- Bad Luck Superstition: Eating seaweed soup before examination or test
Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):
Transcript of Associated File:
Informant’s Comments:
- It was my brother’s birthday on the same day and my mom, like it’s a tradition to eat seaweed soup on the day of your birthday in Korea, but my mom didn’t make my brother seaweed soup because I had an exam and it was bad luck.
- I actually got a box of pumpkin taffy from my mom when I had to put in my college application and well I did end up being admitted to Dartmouth so I guess that helped.
- I think Korea itself is very superstitious I guess like the culture they have is not exactly pagan but similar to pagan culture, so they are very superstitious to start off with.
Collector’s Comments:
- It is interesting that both the good and bad luck superstition are examples of homeopathic magic. The superstition regarding taffy comes from the fact that taffy is very sticky and the Korean word for sticky sounds similar to passing or getting accepted. The superstition regarding seaweed comes from the fact that seaweed is very slippery, which is similar to the image of someone ‘slipping’ and making mistakes.
Collector’s Name: Kyoung Tae Kim (Tim)
Tags/Keywords:
- Superstition/Good Luck/Bad Luck/Korea/Taffy/Seaweed Soup