Folklore Form/Genre: Italian gesture

Informant: G.S.

General Info about Item:

• Insulting gesture, customary folklore
• Language: Italian
• Country of Origin: Italy
• Informant: G.C.
• Date collected: 11/6/2018

Informant Data:

G.C. grew up in Miami with his family. Both of his parents have Italian ancestry and enjoyed sharing their heritage with him and his twin brother.  He is currently a senior at Dartmouth College where he is majoring in Psychology and French. He plans on going to graduate school for psychology next year.  He is a former member of SigEp and also participates in DREAM.

Contextual Data:

        Social Context: This piece of folklore was collected in the Dartmouth Baker Berry Library.  During his interview, he talked about how he joined the Italian Club at Dartmouth to learn more about his Italian background.  Growing up he did not learn much Italian and wanted to become more involved in college. During one of the club meetings, another member taught some of the group different gestures, including insulting ones.

        Cultural Context: When talking about these gestures, he started laughing because he remembered how fun he thought it was to learn gestures.  He said he had a good time using them with friends because he thought it was entertaining that they did not know what the gestures meant. The first gesture he shared means “you are boring” and is demonstrated by waving both of your hands.  

Item:

Waving both hands with open palms while making an annoyed facial expression.  In Italian culture, this means “you are boring.”

Associated Image: 

Informant’s Comments:

Gio noted that he thought it was fun learning gestures that his parents never showed him.  He said that he felt more connected to the culture and joining the Italian Club on campus has helped him learn more about his background.

Collector’s Comments:

I find it interesting that the hand motions are very exaggerated by the performer. I think it’s fascinating that Italians have a gesture for this phrase.

Collector’s Name: Lizzie Clark and Emily Wang

Tags/Keywords: gestures, insults, Italian