Monthly Archives: November 2018

Blabbermouth

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Title: Blabbermouth

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Folklore: Korean Superstition (Bad Luck)
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: Korea
  • Informant: A.A.
  • Date Collected: November 10, 2018

Informant Data:

  • A.A. was born in Seoul, South Korea where he lived with his grandparents in the middle of the country. When he was three years old, J. moved to Tijuana, Mexico, before eventually immigrating to the United States and settling down in the Los Angeles, California area. Currently, J. is Junior undergraduate student at Dartmouth College. He is double majoring in Psychology and Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context:

    As a child, J. tended to be extremely sassy and talk a lot. As a means of getting J. to talk less, his mother told him that if he kept talking as much as he did, and did not quiet down when told to, a frog would jump out his mouth. J. did not believe this. One night, though, when J. was 5 years old, his mother made a traditional Korean dish that was comprised mainly of spinach. As usual, J. was talking his mother’s ear off, when she asked him to quiet down. When he did not do so, his mother reminded him about the frog, but this did not work either. Suddenly, his mother turned to him and spit out a clump of spinach, which J. thought was a frog. Freaked out by the incident which he had just witnessed, J. was permanently scarred from the incident and did not speak out against his mother again.

  • Cultural Context:

    Korean cultures are very communalists, and respect is a large part of society. Listening to ones elders and being respectful of their rules and traditions is taken very seriously in Korean, as well as most Asian cultures. This superstition is one that is used to control a child’s behavior and have them learn to respect their elders, as well as reinforce these values.

Item:

  • One is cursed with the a frog in the mouth if that person refuses to be quiet or talks back to an elder. In this case, the frog is bad luck and caused by such actions if the person does not change their attitude.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Blabbermouth MP4

Informants Comments:

  • “You don’t want to speak out when a teacher is talking especially, or when your parents are talking because you don’t want to be talking over them. You want to show some level of respect.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • This is a common superstition utilized by Korean parents to discipline their kids. This is an example of a sign superstition.

Collector’s Name: Clay Han

Tags/Keywords:

  • Korean. Superstition. Frog. Sign Superstition. Blabbermouth. Talking.

Initiation into Dartmouth Social Spaces – Dartmouth Housing System Initiation

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Title: Dartmouth Housing System Initiation

General Information about Item:

  • Initiation Ritual
  • Dartmouth College
  • Informant: Trevor Ballantyne
  • Date Collected: November 1, 2018

 

Informant Data

  • Trevor Ballantyne is a close friend of mine who was born on March 31st, 1999. Trevor attended elementary school in Hopkinton, Massachusetts where he grew up and he then attended Rivers Academy for high school. After graduation, Trevor matriculated to Dartmouth College where he is currently a sophomore. Trevor is involved in a fraternity on campus, and he is on the Dartmouth Varsity Lacrosse team.

 

Contextual Data

  • Cultural Context: I personally interviewed Trevor in the Collis Café at Dartmouth College. Trevor was first introduced to the housing community when he arrived on campus for freshman orientation. Trevor was surrounded by all incoming freshman who were all going to their specific housing communities at the time. After that, Trevor was first introduced into South House when he attended a South House dinner at a professor’s house who was affiliated with South House. During this, Trevor was surrounded by all of the other members in South House, including me. The process of being initiated into a housing community always occurs during freshman orientation
  • Social Context: Trevor is a first-generation Dartmouth student who planned on being affiliated with a fraternity from freshman year. Before Dartmouth, Trevor was unaware of the housing system and did not expect the housing system to have an effect on his time at Dartmouth. This initiation occurs during freshman orientation which involves a countless number of activities and traditions that allow students to bond with other members of their class

 

Item

  • As Trevor arrived on campus during freshman orientation, he was first initiated and welcomed onto campus by fellow South House members excitedly cheering for their house. Trevor went to the South House desk and was given a black South House shirt and water bottle. Trevor felt this initiation ritual to be welcoming due to the hectic nature of the day as all freshman arrived on campus. Days later, Trevor was further initiated into the South House community when he attended a South House dinner at a professor’s house. Trevor ate food, met fellow South House members, and signed a book that all South House members signed. Trevor was especially grateful for this initiation ritual because he was able to meet other freshman in South House and start relationships with kids that he would one day possibly live with.

 

Analysis

  • Initiation rituals consist of three stages: separation, transition, and incorporation. For the South House dinner initiation, the separation stage occurs when South House members leave campus and the rest of the student population and go to a house with only South House members. The transition stage occurs when students enjoy food and meet their fellow South House members. Finally, the incorporation stage occurs when students sign the South House book and officially join South House.

 

Meaning and Interpretation

  • Every Dartmouth student is a member of a specific housing community. Many students feel a strong sense of pride regarding their house, and the initiation ritual into South House acts as the first way for students to officially join South House.

 

Comparison

  • Comparison within the subgroup: In this sub-group, we focused on Dartmouth College social initiation rituals. One similarity between most of these rituals is that they are experienced by freshmen. A student’s freshman year is a time to learn about his or her new community and the traditions that form its unique culture. Freshman year is also the time that most students join the clubs or sports teams that they will be most involved in throughout their Dartmouth careers. Therefore, it makes sense that so many of the Dartmouth social initiation rituals take place during the freshman year, such as the homecoming bonfire ritual. One difference within our subgroup is who initiates and runs each initiation ritual. Sometimes these rituals are set up and funded by the Dartmouth administration, and sometimes they are student-run. Another difference is the duration of each ritual. Some social spaces take a while to initiate into or involve a few different rituals that initiate new members, whereas others only require one short ritual.
  • Comparison with the rest of the subgroups: The subgroups differ dramatically across the board. Some of the subgroups focus on various ethnic groups while others focus on groups within Dartmouth. The initiation rituals of the groups within Dartmouth usually have the purpose of welcoming new members into their community and are symbolic. Ethnic-based group rituals have the purpose of testing the new members. Additionally, ethnic groups’ initiation rituals tend to be related to religious practices. Initiation rituals of Dartmouth groups are not religious in character. What all groups have in common though is the fact that the process of initiation creates closeness with the rest of the group and makes one feel completely immersed into the group.

Transcript

  • Trevor Ballantyne on the South House initiation dinner, “It was a good way to meet everyone and there is a huge book that you sign your name, say you were there, everyone from the house does it and you can tell it’s the foundation of a tradition that’s going to go on for a long time.”

 

Collector: Reg Anderson, Dartmouth College, Russian 13, Professor Valentina Apresyan, Professor Mikhail Gronas, Fall 2018

 

Tags/Keywords

  • Dartmouth
  • Housing System
  • Freshman
  • Orientation
  • South House
  • Initiation Ritual

Initiation into Dartmouth Social Spaces – Dimensions Initiation Rituals

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Title: Dimensions Initiation Rituals

General Information about Item:

  • Initiation Ritual
  • Dartmouth College Club
  • Informant: Ian Harris
  • Date Collected: October 31, 2018

 

Informant Data

 

  • Ian Harris is my good friend who I first met freshman year of high school in 2013. Ian was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 28th, 1999 and has lived in Boston with his family ever since. Ian attended the Noble and Greenough School from grade 7 to 12 and he is currently a sophomore at Dartmouth College. Ian plans to major in economics. Ian’s father also attended Dartmouth College, but he was not in the club Dimensions.

 

Contextual Data

 

  • Cultural Context: I personally interviewed Ian in his dorm room at Dartmouth College. Ian was first introduced to Dimensions as a senior in high school when he attended a Dimensions event in Boston to welcome the incoming Dartmouth students into the Dartmouth community. This Dimensions event occurs every year in Boston and is attended by incoming Dartmouth students. At this event, those that participated were the incoming Dartmouth students and the current Dartmouth students in Dimensions who perform different dances and songs. After Ian discussed his experience with Dimensions as a senior in high school, Ian then elaborated on the initiation rituals for Dartmouth students joining the club. Ian originally learned of these rituals by participating in the initiation process of Dimensions after being accepted into the club. Ian was surrounded by the upperclassmen in Dimensions and the other new members of Dimensions while they participated in a hike to a cabin.
  • Social Context: I collected this initiation ritual from Ian Harris, a current member of Dimensions. Ian is not the first person in his family to attend Dartmouth, but he is the first person in his family to be in Dimensions at Dartmouth.

 

Item

  • As a senior in high school, Ian was initiated into the community of Dartmouth College by attending the Dimensions event and watching the various dances that were performed by the Dartmouth students in Dimensions. Ian felt more welcomed and initiated into the community after talking with different students in Dimensions, who attempted their best to initiate Ian into Dartmouth. Then, after joining Dimensions, Ian was initiated into the club Dimensions by participating in an annual hike. Ian and the members of Dimensions all hiked to a cabin in the woods and were then initiated into the club with a dinner at the cabin.

Analysis:

  • Initiation rituals consist of three stages: separation, transition, and incorporation. In the first initiation ritual that Ian participated in, separation occurs when Ian leaves his high school community and goes to the Dimensions event in Boston. The transition period occurs when Ian watches the various dances and performances put on by Dimensions and is welcomed into the Dartmouth community. The incorporation stage then occurs after the performances when Ian is able to speak with current members of Dimensions and meet his fellow classmates. Regarding the initiation ritual that Ian experiences as a member of Dimensions, separation occurs when Ian and the other members of Dimensions leave the Dartmouth campus to embark on the hike. Then, the transition period happens when Ian hikes to the cabin where the initiation dinner is held. Finally, the incorporation stage occurs when Ian eats dinner at the cabin with all of the Dimensions members and is officially initiated into the club.

 

Meaning and Interpretation:

  • Dimensions is an extremely important club on campus and being initiated into the club is a great way to bring the members of the club closer together. As a senior in high school, the Dimensions performance to initiate incoming students to Dartmouth acts as a way to welcome incoming students and allow them to meet current students and fellow incoming freshman.

 

Comparison

  • Comparison within the subgroup: In this sub-group, we focused on Dartmouth College social initiation rituals. One similarity between most of these rituals is that they are experienced by freshmen. A student’s freshman year is a time to learn about his or her new community and the traditions that form its unique culture. Freshman year is also the time that most students join the clubs or sports teams that they will be most involved in throughout their Dartmouth careers. Therefore, it makes sense that so many of the Dartmouth social initiation rituals take place during the freshman year, such as the homecoming bonfire ritual. One difference within our subgroup is who initiates and runs each initiation ritual. Sometimes these rituals are set up and funded by the Dartmouth administration, and sometimes they are student-run. Another difference is the duration of each ritual. Some social spaces take a while to initiate into or involve a few different rituals that initiate new members, whereas others only require one short ritual.
  • Comparison with the rest of the subgroups: The subgroups differ dramatically across the board. Some of the subgroups focus on various ethnic groups while others focus on groups within Dartmouth. The initiation rituals of the groups within Dartmouth usually have the purpose of welcoming new members into their community and are symbolic. Ethnic-based group rituals have the purpose of testing the new members. Additionally, ethnic groups’ initiation rituals tend to be related to religious practices. Initiation rituals of Dartmouth groups are not religious in character. What all groups have in common though is the fact that the process of initiation creates closeness with the rest of the group and makes one feel completely immersed into the group.

Transcript

  • Ian Harris on the tradition of the initiation ritual into Dimensions, “That’s a tradition. The upperclassmen that went with us did that too. They’ve been doing this for as long as Dimensions has been around which is really cool because you have the same experience as older kids.

 

Collector: Reg Anderson, Dartmouth College, Russian 13, Professor Valentina Apresyan, Professor Mikhail Gronas, Fall 2018

 

Tags/Keywords

  • Dartmouth
  • Dartmouth Clubs
  • Freshman
  • Initiation Ritual

Blood of the Covenant

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Title: Blood of the Covenant

General Information:

  • Verbal lore, Proverb
  • Informant: Caroline Petro
  • Location: Via Phone Call to Massachusetts Area
  • Date: November 1, 2018

Informant Data:

Caroline Petro is a Dartmouth alumna who graduated in June 2018. She is 22 years old. She was born and raised Catholic, though she attended private school instead of Catholic school. She lives in Norwood, Massachusetts, and she currently works on the cape of Massachusetts as an intern for a museum fundraising and marketing department. She has three siblings, one of whom is in training to become a Catholic priest, and her mother recently earned a degree to become a theologian.

Contextual Data:

Social Context:

Caroline has heard this proverb from many different people in its shorter version, but the longer version she heard from her mother a few years ago. Her mother, as above, is a theologian, and studies philosophy and religion. Caroline and her mother are very close, and their faith is a part of their relationship.

Cultural Context:

Caroline said that the better-known proverb is interpreted to mean that the blood of your familial relationships means more than the water of other relationship bonds. But the full proverb, in its Catholic meaning, preferences the blood of the covenant (a metaphor for Christ’s sacrifice, and a commitment) means more than the water of the womb (a metaphor for familial ‘blood’ relationships). This proverb doesn’t say that family or friends are more important than either family or friends—but that the relationship among church members and people who share in that covenant is greater than any other relationship.

Item:

Orally transmitted proverb:

“The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.”

Expanding upon the secular proverb:

“Blood is thicker than water.”

Interview Audio:

This proverb (and Caroline’s background) is discussed up to the 9:44 mark.

Collector’s Comments:

The formula is a two part proverb that relies on comparison. The image is a serious reflection on the church’s tenets, and evokes a mental image of the blood of Christ/the cup of wine at church services. The message contradicts the meaning as interpreted by secular culture, and instead preferences church family above “blood” relations or friendships. This is one of few proverbs that doesn’t explicitly state friends or family preferences, but instead values a different kind of relationship above both of those.

Collector:

Alexandra Norris, 20
3305 Hinman, Hanover, NH, 03755
Dartmouth College
Russian 13
Fall 2018

Tags:

  • Proverbs
  • Catholic Proverbs
  • Relationships
  • Family
  • Friends

Robert Frost’s Ashes

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General Information about Item:

  • Customary, Practical Joke
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Malcolm Robinson
  • Date Collected: This data was collected during a one-on-one interview in the library of Dartmouth College with Malcolm Robinson on October 28th, 2018.

Informant Data:

  • Malcolm Robinson ‘22 is a male student studying Russian Area Studies and Geography at Dartmouth College. He is originally from London. Malcolm participated in a canoeing trip before the start of his Freshman year at Dartmouth as part of the First Year Trips DOC program. He has 2 older brothers (Austin Robinson ‘19 and Gordon Robinson 21′), who attend Dartmouth, but Trips were his first true introduction to life as a Dartmouth student.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context
  • Malcolm encountered this joke, which is not specific to the canoeing section of trips and is actually quite common, when he was a tripee during August of 2017.
  • This joke is typically played by upperclassmen or students leading trips on their first year tripees. As the objects of the prank, the new freshmen are supposed to be initiated and bonded together as a new class by going through the embarrassment of this prank together.
  • Cultural Context
  • This joke occurs on first year trips, which close to 95% of every incoming class at Dartmouth College participates in. Trips are used as a way to welcome each new class to Dartmouth and to break down whatever misconceptions they might have. Accordingly, jokes on trips are used often as they offer a great way to subvert expectations and to make everyone have a good time. Typically, the practical joke is played once the members of the trip and the leaders have left Dartmouth’s campus and are together somewhere in the surrounding wilderness of New Hampshire/Vermont. In this way, practical jokes like this one are very common to the Trips setting as they serve to bring everyone closer together through group humiliation/embarrassment.

Item:

  • During First Year Trips each year, Trip leaders will carry a bag that they claim is filled with the ashes of Robert Frost. This is supposedly to scatter them in the College Grant, the wilderness area where trip sections go as Frost wrote extensively on the beauty of the rugged New England landscape.  Eventually, they will choose a place that was allegedly meaningful to Frost to scatter these ashes. At this point, they will reveal that the ashes are actually chocolate powder and proceed to make hot chocolate for the group.

 

Transcript:

  • Gordon: Hi Malcolm, hope you’re doing well,  could you talk a little bit about yourself?
  • Malcolm: Yeah, so I’m Malcolm Robinson, I’m a 22 at Dartmouth College and I’m here with my brother Gordon Robinson. He’s gonna ask me some questions.
  • Gordon: Great, so let’s talk a little bit about jokes or pranks they played on your trip. Could you give an example of any jokes from your trip?
  • Malcolm: My first-year trip was awesome, I had a great time and they played a lot of jokes. For example one point during the trip, they told us that it was a Dartmouth tradition because Robert Frost was an alum we had to spread his ashes around the College Grant. It turns out that those were not Frost’s ashes, it was pretty funny.
  • Gordon: How did you figure it out?
  • Malcolm: It was pretty obvious when someone in the group figured it out. At the start, many genuinely believed that those were Robert Frost’s ashes.
  • Gordon: Alright, great! Thanks.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Informant’s Comments:

  • “They [the trip leaders] had some people convinced until we saw the bag. I think that this brought us closer as a group, and made me reflect on the beauty of the wilderness.”

 

Collectors’ Comments:

  • This prank plays off the trippees desire to participate in an experience that they believe is shared by the wider campus. It also shows them how they are part of a wider Dartmouth community of current students and alumni.

Collector’s Name: Gordon Robinson

Tags/Keywords:

  • Joke. Pranks. Practical Jokes. Trips. Dartmouth.

Initiation into Dartmouth Social Spaces – Candle Light Ceremony

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Title: Candle Light Ceremony

General Information about Item:

  • Initiation Ritual
  • Dartmouth College
  • Informant: Arvin Kumaran
  • Date Collected: October 31, 2018

 

Informant Data

  • Arvin Kumaran was born in Westwood, Massachusetts on July 28th, 1999. Arvin attended middle school and high school in Westwood and is now in his second year at Dartmouth College. Arvin is on the pre-med track at Dartmouth College and is planning on majoring in Economics. Arvin is a close friend of mine who I met the fall of my freshman year at the college.

 

Contextual Data

  • Cultural Context: I personally interviewed Arvin in his dorm room at Dartmouth College. Arvin was first introduced to Dartmouth’s candle light ceremony during orientation. Arvin was surrounded by all of his fellow classmates during the ceremony in the woods surrounding the East Wheelock dormitory. The ceremony took place as the sun went down and this ceremony occurs every year with Dartmouth’s freshman class in the same place.
  • Social Context: The candle light ceremony occurs during freshman orientation week. Orientation week involves a countless number of activities and traditions that allow students to bond with other members of their class.

 

Item

  • Every year Dartmouth freshman all gather in the woods outside of East Wheelock dormitory where they first listen to a member of their class talk about what Dartmouth values. After that, each student is given a lit candle and walks in a group towards Dartmouth campus. Every Dartmouth freshman participates in this ceremony and it really acts as the first initiation ritual while at the college.

Analysis

  • Initiation rituals consist of three stages: separation, transition, and incorporation. In this ritual, the separation stage occurs when the students leave the main campus and go to the woods outside of East Wheelock. Next, the transition stage happens when all the students are gathered in the woods listening to a member of their class speak. Finally, the incorporation stage occurs when all the students receive a candle and collectively walk back to campus.

 

Meaning and Interpretation

  • The candle light ceremony is a ritual that occurs each year during freshman orientation. The ritual acts as a way for students to be initiated into the Dartmouth community while also allowing students to meet their fellow classmates. The candle light ceremony is many Dartmouth students first memories on campus and the image of thousands of lit candles resonates with the entire student population.

 

Comparison

  • Comparison within the subgroup: In this sub-group, we focused on Dartmouth College social initiation rituals. One similarity between most of these rituals is that they are experienced by freshmen. A student’s freshman year is a time to learn about his or her new community and the traditions that form its unique culture. Freshman year is also the time that most students join the clubs or sports teams that they will be most involved in throughout their Dartmouth careers. Therefore, it makes sense that so many of the Dartmouth social initiation rituals take place during the freshman year, such as the homecoming bonfire ritual. One difference within our subgroup is who initiates and runs each initiation ritual. Sometimes these rituals are set up and funded by the Dartmouth administration, and sometimes they are student-run. Another difference is the duration of each ritual. Some social spaces take a while to initiate into or involve a few different rituals that initiate new members, whereas others only require one short ritual.
  • Comparison with the rest of the subgroups: The subgroups differ dramatically across the board. Some of the subgroups focus on various ethnic groups while others focus on groups within Dartmouth. The initiation rituals of the groups within Dartmouth usually have the purpose of welcoming new members into their community and are symbolic. Ethnic-based group rituals have the purpose of testing the new members. Additionally, ethnic groups’ initiation rituals tend to be related to religious practices. Initiation rituals of Dartmouth groups are not religious in character. What all groups have in common though is the fact that the process of initiation creates closeness with the rest of the group and makes one feel completely immersed into the group.

 

Transcript

  • Arvin Kumaran on how the candle light ceremony acted as an initiation ritual, “This was our first bonding experience and it is probably one of the few events where we’d all be at the same place at the same time.”

 

Collector: Reg Anderson, Dartmouth College, Russian 13, Professor Valentina Apresyan, Professor Mikhail Gronas, Fall 2018

Tags/Keywords

  • Dartmouth
  • Freshman class
  • Orientation
  • Initiation Ritual

Throwing Salt When Returning from a Funeral

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Title: Throwing Salt When Returning from a Funeral 

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Folklore: Korean Superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: Korea
  • Informant: Sunglim Kim
  • Date Collected: November 5, 2018

Informant Data:

  • Sunglim Kim was born and raised in Seoul, Korea until the age of 17. Her family origins are Korean. When she was a junior in high school she moved to the United States, and went to high school in Seattle, Washington. She then went to UC Berkeley for her undergraduate degree, went back to work in Korea for a few years, and then came back to the United States to get her masters degree at the University of Kansas, and then went back to Berkeley for her PHD. Currently, she is a professor of Korean Art and Culture, in the department of Art History at Dartmouth College. This is her 7thyear teaching at Dartmouth College. She is a mother of two children.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context:When Sunglim Kim was 13 years old, and living in Seoul, Korea, her dad left for a funeral without her mom, and when he came back, her mom performed the superstition explained in the item below. She knew that this was a common practice in her culture beforehand. However, this was the first time she witnessed someone practicing this superstition. She agrees that it was a good idea and it was something that her family continued to do frequently, and Sunglim Kim continues to practice this today. Sunglim Kim also explained that women usually do not go to funerals, so her mom would usually be at home whenever her dad went to a funeral. This is because her mom normally needed to look after her and tend to domestic duties.
  • Cultural Context:Women in general usually did not attend funerals. This was because they would need to stay home and tend to their kids and other domestic duties. Women who are pregnant especially do not go to funerals, because women did not want to see anything negative during a time of pregnancy, with the idea that this might bring bad things into their child’s life. This superstition originated in Korean culture, and it was a very much engrained and a traditional part of their culture. It was a superstition accepted by most households, according to Sunglim Kim, and also accepted by all ages.

Item:

  • When someone comes back from a funeral, which is usually the man or husband, the family member at home will throw salt on them as they enter the door to ensure that they do not carry with them any spirits of the dead into the house. Spirits of the dead that entered the house could potentially be harmful, and bring more death or negative things to the family. The salt would remove the dead spirits, and maintain the purity of the person and the house.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript of Associated File:

  • “Whenever my father came back from funerals, and then my mother, before he entered, would always put some salt around him.”

Informants Comments:

  • Sunglim Kim believed this to be an important superstition to abide by when someone returned to the house after a funeral. She said that normally her mom did not go to the funerals, so it was usually her mom that was throwing salt on her dad when he returned.

Collector’s Comments:

  • I thought this was a very interesting superstition because it demonstrates gender roles within Korean culture. It was traditionally the man that was going to the funerals and the woman that stayed at home. This shows that the women’s duties are very much valued, and women can’t get much time off from tending to their kids. Also, it shows that pregnant women are treated very well in the time of pregnancy since pregnant women were not allowed to go to funerals since they were not meant to see anything negative in the time of pregnancy. This is also an example of a Conversion Superstition, which means if A, then B, unless C. So in this case, if the husband goes to a funeral, then he will bring spirits of the dead with him back to the house unless he gets salt put on him.

Collector’s Name: Kipling Weisel

Tags/Keywords:

  • Korean. Superstition. Throwing Salt on Husband. Conversion Superstition.

Touching Butterflies, Touching Your Eye

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Title: Touching Butterflies, Touching Your Eye

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Folklore: Korean Superstition (Bad Luck)
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: South Korea
  • Informant: Jamie Park
  • Date Collected: November 5, 2018

Informant Data:

  • Jamie Park was born in New York City, New York on October 22, 1997. Jamie lived in New York for a short time with her parents and sister, until they moved to Seoul, South Korea, where her parents initially immigrated from. The Park’s time in Seoul was brief and eventually they moved back to the United States, settling down in Rancho Palos Verdes, where Jamie grew up until she graduated from Palos Verdes Peninsula High School. Currently, Jamie is a Junior undergraduate student at Dartmouth college, majoring in Studio art, with the hopes of going to medical school upon graduating. In addition, Jamie makes frequent visits to South Korea, as her parents moved back to Seoul in August 2018.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context:

    As a young girl, Jamie would often go around her yard and chase the butterflies that were flying around the gardens. Jamie’s grandma would yell at her in Korean to stop trying to catch the butterflies, because by touching the butterfly’s wings, if she were to touch her eye thereafter, she would go blind. Jamie’s grandmother would warn her that the butterfly’s wing contained a sort of magical dust that would spread into her eyes, and thus cause her to go blind.

  • Cultural Context:

    This superstition is one that has been around for centuries. This superstition has lost popularity, though, especially in recent years, but is still practiced in Korean culture today. In addition to being bad luck and causing blindness, the practical implication of this superstition has been to discourage eye infections by not touching your eye after putting your fingers on a foreign object. Thus, this superstition is not only to avoid bad luck, but also to avoid real health risks.

  • One can become blind by touching the wings of a butterfly and then proceeding to touch their eye. Koreans believe that this magical dust on the butterfly’s wings had the ability to cause blindness in people if it found its way into the human eye.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Collector’s Comments:

  • The superstition of the evil eye is not as popular as most other superstitions in Korean society. The superstition still has a roll in promoting good health. This is an example of magic superstition.

Collector’s Name: Clay Han

Tags/Keywords:

  • Korean. Superstition. Butterfly. Eye. Magic Superstition.

Life Rules

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Title: Life Rules

General Information:

  • Verbal lore, Proverb
  • Informant: Meg Costantini
  • Location: Meg’s office, Aquinas House, Hanover, NH 03755
  • Date: October 18, 2018

Informant Data:

Meg Costantini is a campus minister at Dartmouth College’s Catholic student center, Aquinas House. She describes herself as a “cradle Catholic,” meaning that she was born and raised Catholic her whole life. She went to public school for grade and high school, Villanova for her undergraduate degree, and got her Masters of Divinity from Notre Dame in 2015. After that, she started her current job. She is married to her husband Shawn, has a one-year-old daughter Lucy, and a baby on the way. (And her dog, Rey, who you’ll hear barking in the audio recording.)

Contextual Data:

Social Data:

Meg heard this proverb while she was studying for her Masters of Divinity at Notre Dame. The director of her program used this as a set of “rules” for them to follow, and wisdom to guide them through their time there. The program was not composed entirely of Catholics, but was taught in a Catholic college and moral setting. This advice was given to the program participants to help them better understand how to relate to one another and build friendships during their time there, but also in a broader context to help them go out into the world with a Catholic mindset in their relationships.

Cultural Data:

This proverb has three parts. First, be your own best advocate means to know yourself before you enter a relationship, and advocate for what you need, because you can’t expect others to read your mind. Go gently means to treat yourself and others gently and with kindness, whether a friend, a partner, or a stranger. Meg said that we often need to love ourselves more than we do—and if you can’t be gentle with yourself, you can’t expect others to do the same. Finally, assume goodwill means to assume that others around you are acting with goodwill, and to think the best of them unless proven otherwise. Don’t assume that others are out to harm you. Though not explicitly using metaphors of Catholicism, these principles encompass a lot of Church teachings on how to treat others and yourself. Meg said she still recalls these principles and tries to keep them close at hand in her daily life, in order to remind herself to treat everyone with dignity.

Item:

Orally transmitted proverb:

“First, be your own best advocate, second, go gently, third, assume goodwill.”

Interview Recording:

Volume Warning: Meg’s busy life includes a young baby who liked to stand near the computer and a dog who likes to bark–they are audible and loud on the recording! Listen with care as to your volume.

Collector’s Notes:

The formula of this proverb is a three part piece of advice. The image is upbeat but serious. The message conveys how to properly treat others as well as yourself–an overlooked part of relationships. This is one of only two proverbs that doesn’t have explicitly Catholic metaphors, but it still conveys the heart of Catholic teachings.

Collector:

Alexandra Norris, 20
3305 Hinman, Hanover, NH, 03755
Dartmouth College
Russian 13
Fall 2018

Tags:

  • Proverbs
  • Catholic Proverbs
  • Friends
  • Relationships

The Lost Camper

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Title: The Lost Camper

General Information about Item:

  • Customary, Practical Joke
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Noah Schwed
  • Date Collected: This data was collected during a one-on-one interview in the library of Dartmouth College with Noah Schwed on October 29th, 2018.

Informant Data:

  • Noah Schwed ‘21 is a male student studying Economics and Computer Science at Dartmouth College. He is originally from New Jersey. Noah participated in a hiking trip before the start of his Freshman year at Dartmouth as part of the First Year Trips DOC program. He has an older brother (Eric Schwed ‘18), who attended Dartmouth, but Trips were his first true introduction to life as a Dartmouth student.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context
    • Noah encountered this joke, which is not specific to the hikings section of trips and is actually quite common, when he was a tripee during August of 2017.
    • This joke is typically played by upperclassmen or students leading trips on their first year tripees. As the objects of the prank, the new freshmen are supposed to be initiated and bonded together as a new class by going through the embarrassment of this prank together.
  • Cultural Context
    • This joke occurs on first year trips, which close to 95% of every incoming class at Dartmouth College participates in. Trips are used as a way to welcome each new class to Dartmouth and to break down whatever misconceptions they might have. Accordingly, jokes on trips are used often as they offer a great way to subvert expectations and to make everyone have a good time. Typically, the practical joke is played once the members of the trip and the leaders have left Dartmouth’s campus and are together somewhere in the surrounding wilderness of New Hampshire/Vermont. In this way, practical jokes like this one are very common to the Trips setting as they serve to bring everyone closer together through group humiliation/embarrassment.

Item:

During First Year Trips each year, Trip leaders will have a member of the Trips Crew staff participate in their trip for a period of time, especially during hikes or travel oriented trips. Eventually, this individual will break off from the group, and the trip leaders will attempt to scare their tripees by claiming that the individual is now lost in the wilderness. Once it is clear that the tripees are legitimately concerned and that they have bought into the prank, the Crew member typically returns from hiding with food for the embarrassed tripees.

 

Transcript:

  • Jackson: Hey Noah, I understand that you went on trips and I’m conducting an interview regarding pranks that were played on trips. But, before we get started, could you say a little bit about your background, where you’re from, what you’re studying?
  • Noah: Yeah, so I’m Noah Schwed. I’m a 21. I’m from New Jersey. I’m studying Econ and CS, and, as of now, I haven’t declared an official Major yet.
  • Jackson: Cool. So, when you think back on your time on Trips, were there any like especially notable or like memorable pranks that were played on you or on your trip section?
  • Noah: Yeah. So one memorable one was when one of the trip leaders coordinated with one of the kids on Trips [Crew] to pretend that they got lost. When they disappeared from the group, the trip leaders told the rest of the kids on the trip, trying to get everyone to freak out that we’d lost someone.
  • Jackson: Did people like fall for it? Were people pretty into it?
  • Noah: Some, yeah, but it wasn’t the first prank they [our trip leaders] had pulled.
  • Jackson: Alright, great! Thanks.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Audio file

Informant’s Comments:

  • “They [the trip leaders] had some people on my trip pretty scared for a while. Ironically, I think we actually came together as a group during that moment.”

 

Collectors’ Comments:

  • This prank plays off of a scared fear of having lost someone. As Noah mentioned, the group rallied together when they were under the impression that they had lost someone, bringing them all closer together.

 

Collector’s Name: Jackson Baur

Tags/Keywords:

  • Joke. Pranks. Practical Jokes. Trips. Dartmouth.