Monthly Archives: November 2018

Initiation Rituals of Music Groups at Dartmouth College – Dodecaphonic

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Title: Initiation Rituals of Music Groups at Dartmouth College – Dodecaphonic

General Information about Item:
Genre: Initiation Ritual
Language: English
Country of Origin: UK
Informant: Maxine Perroni-Scharf, female, 19 years old
Place Collected: Dartmouth College, Byrne II
Date Collected: 10-19-2018

Informant Data:
Maxine Perroni-Scharf was born and raised in the UK. She is a sophomore at Dartmouth College and has been singing in choirs at school since she was 8 years old. On campus, she is a member of the Dodecaphonic. Maxine joined the Dodecaphonic her freshmen year because the Dodecaphonic impressed her the most with their performance at the auditions.

Contextual Data:

Social Context: I collected this folklore from Maxine Perroni-Scharf, a sophomore at Dartmouth College. She is a close friend of mine, and the only person I know who is in Dodecaphonic. I asked her about initiation rituals in Dodecaphonic. Maxine told me how she learned about the Dodecaphonic’s initiation ritual after experiencing it for the first time freshmen. During her second year, she was the upperclassman that performed the initiation rituals to the new members. The initiation rituals involve the upperclassmen of Dodecaphonic and the newly accepted members.

Cultural Context: The Dartmouth Dodecaphonic (Dodecs) is the College’s oldest and premier co-ed acapella group, singing a variety of music ranging from 80’s, rock, contemporary pop, Dartmouth traditional, and many others. The initiation rituals of the Dodecaphonic is important because all members get to meet each other for the first time and build a strong, tight-knit group, who will eventually travel and perform together across the United State.

Item:
Maxine auditioned to all girl acapella groups on Dartmouth campus. She also had to audition for one solo, where she had to sing a couple of solo songs. It was a day-long process and she didn’t find out of the results until a few days later. During the initiation ritual, older members went to Maxine’s room early in the morning around 4-6 am. They knocked on her door and sang in her room. They separated the new members from the familiar daily routine. After the Dartmouth Dodecaphonic gathered the other new members and sleepy Maxine, they transitioned to Dartmouth Hall, where they sang the Twilight Dartmouth song together. Then, the new members returned to their rooms. After Maxine went to her first rehearsal, all members of the Dodecaphonic drive out to Denny’s super late to get a meal together. The Dodecaphonic also held a party for the new members and told them that everyone would dress as “Space Cats” but, then the upperclassmen did not dress as Space Cats. During the party, older members of the Dodecaphonic passed down quest-items to younger Dodecaphonic and give them Dodecaphonic T-shirt. During the party, they also had an initiation contest, where they spent time together and competed against who can drink jam with a straw first. The last part of the Dodecaphonic’s initiation ritual is when the new members perform at their “baby show”. The show was the first time Maxine and the rest of the members sing together. All new members wore flare to show the public that they are new members of the acapella group. This baby show showed their incorporation into the group.

Associated file:

Informant’s Comments: According to Maxine, she thinks Dodecaphonic’s initiation ritual helped new members transition into the acapella group really fast. She said that new members don’t feel like new members anymore after initiation. Everyone in Dodecaphonic was really friendly and welcoming.

Collector’s Comments:
I think the Dodecaphonic’s initiation rituals sound like fun. Because there are more initiation rituals after wake-up, I think the Dodecaphonic’s initiation rituals form a more closed-knit group compared to other musical groups on campus.

Comparison:

Comparison within the subgroup: Since most of the new members of all the groups within the subgroups were mostly freshmen, they were surprised by the wakeup. All of the musical groups’ initiation rituals compose of wakeup and getting a meal together with their group. However, compared to other acapella groups, the Dodecaphonic also have other initiation rituals (e.g. party, sing at Dartmouth Hall) they do to welcome the new members. The purpose of the initiation ritual is to integrate the new members into the group more easily and for the group members to bond with each other.

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.

Vanessa Chhoa; 20 years old
Hanover, NH 03755
Dartmouth College
Russian 13: Slavic Folklore
Fall 2018

Initiation Rituals of Music Groups at Dartmouth College – The Dartmouth Sings

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Title: Initiation Rituals of Music Groups at Dartmouth College – The Dartmouth Sings

General Information about Item:

Genre: Initiation Ritual
Language: English
Country of Origin: USA
Informant: Summer Cody, female, 20 years old
Place Collected: Dartmouth College, Occom Common
Date Collected: 11-01-2018

Informant Data:

Summer Cody was born and raised in New York City, New York. She is a junior at Dartmouth College and has been singing all her life. On campus, she is a member of the Dartmouth Sings. Summer joined the Dartmouth Sings her freshmen year because she was interested in a co-ed acapella group and felt like the Dartmouth Sing had a warm and welcoming atmosphere.

Contextual Data:

Social Context: I collected this folklore from Summer Cody, a junior at Dartmouth College. She is a close friend of mine, and the only person I know who is in the Dartmouth Sings. I asked her about initiation rituals in Dartmouth Sings. Summer told me how she learned about the Dartmouth Sing’s initiation ritual after experiencing it for the first time freshmen. During her second and third year, she was the upperclassman that performed the initiation rituals to the new members. The initiation rituals involve the upperclassmen of the Dartmouth Sings and the newly accepted members.

Cultural Context: The Dartmouth Sings is the College’s premier co-ed acapella group, singing an eclectic repertoire ranging from contemporary pop, folk, R&B, musical theatre, and Dartmouth traditional. The initiation rituals of the Dartmouth Sings is important because all members get to meet each other for the first time and learn about its history.

Item:

The audition process consists of two parts; the standard audition and the callback. If people don’t get into the group they went to callbacks for, there is a post-callback audition called a “Pref audition” that they can go to. Generally, the Sings test for pitch matching and musical scales, as well as listen to solo songs during the auditions. Then they hear those who auditioned sing with members of the group in the callback. They decide who gets in strictly on musical ability; if people can blend their voice with others well, match pitch, and/or has an excellent solo voice. No other considerations are taken into account (e.g. looks and personality are not considered). Summer participated in “wake-up” where older members of the Dartmouth Sings knocked on new members door after determining who gets in. The new members were woken up by loud poundings on their door. This process separated the new members from other Dartmouth students. Summer and the other older members went inside the new members’ dorms to pickup their new members and drove them to the golf course. At the golf course, they told their new members the history and origin story of the Dartmouth sings. Later, Summer and the other members of the Dartmouth Sings took them out to dinner, all the while making jokes and singing songs with them. Summer thinks their initiation rituals is pretty fun because up until that point, none of the new members really know who else got into the group, so it was their first time meeting everyone.

Associated file: She did not want to be recorded.

Informant’s Comments: According to Summer, she personally really likes the Dartmouth Sings’ initiation ritual. She thinks their initiation ritual is fun, exciting, and welcoming. Because the initiation ritual also speaks to the founding of the Dartmouth Sings, she thinks the initiation ritual is a significant part of being a member of the Dartmouth Sings.

Collector’s Comments: The Dartmouth Sing has a fun and uplifting initiation ritual. From Summer’s description of the members sitting at the golf course and listening to the history of the Dartmouth Sings while the sun is rising is beautiful and memorable.

Comparison:

Comparison within the subgroup: Since most of the new members of all the groups within the subgroups were mostly freshmen, they had never heard of wakeup and were surprised to experience it during initiation. All of the musical groups’ initiation rituals compose of wakeups and getting a meal together with their group. However, compared to other acapella groups, the Dartmouth Sings went over the history of the Dartmouth Sings; therefore, it incorporates a more serious aspect to initiation. The purpose of the initiation ritual is to integrate the new members into the group more easily and for the group members to bond with each other.

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.

Vanessa Chhoa; 20 years old
Hanover NH, 03755
Dartmouth College
Russian 13: Slavic Folklore
Fall 2018

Insulting Gestures – France: Gesture 9

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Folklore Form/Genre: French gesture                                Informant: Emily Pommier

Name: Raising your index finger below your eye and pulling slightly to say “you’re lying”

Place of Discovery: Hanover, NH

Informant Data: Emily Pommier is a half-French Dartmouth College freshman. Her father’s side of the family is french, and her grandparents live in Lyon, France.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural context: French gestures tend to be fairly expressive in nature.
  • Social context: French individuals will use this hand gesture to call Bullshit on something someone is saying.

Item: The item presented here is a picture of Emily demonstrating the French gesture. I talked to Emily about the gesture as well as snapped a photo of her executing it. All of the information provided in this write-up is an accurate depiction of the knowledge I obtained while speaking with Emily.

Transcript: Emily was with her grandparents in Lyon. Her grandparents had begun to banter with each other about how neither of them do their fair share of work in the house. Emily’s grandmother had quipped that her grandfather never takes out the garbage, and the grandfather retorted that he had taken it out that day. The grandmother turned to him and gave the gesture displayed to indicate she didn’t believe him.

Informant’s Comments: This gesture is often accompanied with the phrase “Mon Oiel” (My eye), as if to say that their eyes are open, they are paying attention, and they can’t be fooled. This gesture is common in France and is known by almost all in the country.

Collector’s Comments: It is an interesting gesture because there is no immediate similar one in the U.S. that comes to mind. It is also interesting because I would have had no idea what the gesture meant if it hadn’t been explained to me.

Collector’s Name:

Carson Spahr

HB 4105 Dartmouth College

Hanover, NH 03755

Dartmouth College

Tags/Keywords:

  • Gestures
  • France
  • Insulting
  • Hand
  • Finger

Indian Superstition: Hiccups

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General Information about Item:

  • Bad Luck Superstition
  • Language: English/Hindi
  • Country of Origin: India
  • Informant: Aashika Jhawar
  • Date Collected: 11-5-2018
  • Interview was done over phone

Informant Data:

  • Aashika (Aashi) Jhawar is a 19 year old college student from Bellevue, WA. She was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan and currently attends the University of California, Berkeley. She is second generation American and her family is from Northern India.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Aashi did not know why hiccups are culturally specific, but she did link the general superstition to evil eye. Evil eye is a belief, typically held in the Northern states of India that attaches bad luck to malevolent glares or thoughts towards another.
  • Social Context: Aashi learned this superstition from her grandmother, who described it as an extension of the ‘evil eye’.

Item:

  • If you have hiccups, it means that someone is thinking about you negatively.

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

Transcript:

  • “Another thing that’s considered bad luck in Indian culture is continuous hiccups or just having the hiccups because it signifies that someone close to you is thinking about you in a not positive way or remembering you in a bad way”

Informant’s Comments:

  • Aashi prefaced this superstition by stating that she knew very little about the origin of this superstition, but it is something she recalls her grandmother teaching her at a young age. She either was told or assumes that this practice is linked to the Evil Eye belief, as they both include something resulting from a malevolent glance or thought from another.

Collector’s Comments:

  • I thought this superstition was interesting because it has very little cultural significance, and yet it is still widely accepted as a superstition. When asked, Aashi did not know why hiccups specifically represent this ideal and neither did her grandmother upon following up. This indicates that either the cultural significance was lost when passed down, or (less likely) there was no cultural significance to begin with. A quick web search does not provide an answer to this, however, I found it interesting that a more common belief online is that hiccups indicate that someone is missing you, not thinking about you negatively.

Collector’s Name: Derek Lue

Insulting Gestures – France: Gesture 8

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Folklore Form/Genre: French gesture                                Informant: Emily Pommier

Name: Raising your hands to your sides, palms upward, perking the lips to mean “I don’t know”, “I don’t agree”, “That seems wrong to me”, etc.

Place of Discovery: Hanover, NH

Informant Data: Emily Pommier is a half-French Dartmouth College freshman. Her father’s side of the family is french, and her grandparents live in Lyon, France.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural context: French gestures tend to be fairly expressive in nature.
  • Social context: French individuals will use this hand gesture for multiple things; it is a staple gesture in France.

Item: The item presented here is a picture of Emily demonstrating the French gesture. I talked to Emily about the gesture as well as snapped a photo of her executing it. All of the information provided in this write-up is an accurate depiction of the knowledge I obtained while speaking with Emily.

Transcript: Emily was eating dinner with her grandparents with some neighbors. Naturally, like at any dinner gone wrong, political conversation arose. Emily’s grandparents’ neighbor contended that the influx of immigration to France was harming the state of the nation. Emily’s grandmother, who clearly disagreed but wanted to be somewhat polite, responded with this gesture, indicating that she wasn’t so sure about what the neighbor was saying.

Informant’s Comments: People in the U.S. may be able to understand what this gesture means without being told explicitly. The thing about this gesture is that it has multiple meanings, so interpreting it correctly depends on the context it is given in.

Collector’s Comments: It is an interesting gesture because it is has so many meanings that one needs context to interpret it correctly. Without context, it can mean a variety of different expressions. In the United States, a similar gesture may be putting an open hand up, which can either mean offering a high-five, waving, or wanting to ask a question.

Collector’s Name:

Carson Spahr

HB 4105 Dartmouth College

Hanover, NH 03755

Dartmouth College

Tags/Keywords:

  • Gestures
  • France
  • Insulting
  • Hand

Touching the Feet of Elders

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Title: Touching the feet of your elders

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Lore, Superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: India
  • Informant: Sarina Kothari
  • Date Collected: 11/12/18

Informant Data:

  • Sarina Kothari is a ‘21 attending Dartmouth College. She is a pre-med student studying Biology and Math. She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania but currently lives in Orlando, Florida. Her family is Hindu, and she speaks some Hindi at home, but can not read or write. Her parents are from Bombay (Mumbai).

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Elders are highly respected in Indian culture, so by touching their feet and putting your hands over your head, it is showing respect to them. If you don’t do this, then you are disrespecting them, and the will not give you their blessing so you will have bad luck.
  • Social Context: Sarina learned this superstition from her parents and grandparents. It is something people practice quite often today. She explained that if you meet and elder person, like a grandparent, you must touch their feet with your hands and put it over your head. She grew up practicing this and still does it today whenever she is with her elders.

Item:

  • This superstition is tied to social manners and respect for elders in the Indian culture.

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

Transcript: “So whenever you see an older grandparent or like someone older than you, not like a parent but like a grandparent age, then you have to like in my culture like in Hindu culture, it probably different in North and South India, but for me, whenever I see someone at a grandparent’s age, I have to touch their feet with my hands and also put it over my head. It signifies that you respect them and if you like don’t do that then it means you don’t respect your elders. It’s a common theme of like whatever you respect in Indian culture, you have to put your hands to that then out it over your head like that. It just signifies that they’re like blessing you, so if you want blessing from older people, you have to do that to get blessings. And if you don’t do that then its considered disrespectful and then you’ll get bad luck.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • This superstition is an example of a conversion superstition: If you meet and elder, then you will have not get their blessing and have bad luck, unless you must put your hands to their feet then over your head.

Collector’s Name: Marlee Montella

Tags/Keywords:

  • Customary Lore
  • Superstition
  • Elders

Stepping on a Textbook

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Title: Stepping on a Textbook

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Lore, Superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: India
  • Informant: Sarina Kothari
  • Date Collected: 11/12/18

Informant Data:

  • Sarina Kothari is a ‘21 attending Dartmouth College. She is a pre-med student studying Biology and Math. She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania but currently lives in Orlando, Florida. Her family is Hindu, and she speaks some Hindi at home, but can not read or write. Her parents are from Bombay (Mumbai).

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Sarina explained that in her culture, people believe if you step on a textbook, you are disrespecting the gods associated with education. Education is very important in Indian culture, so if you do step on a textbook, you must “apologize” to the gods or else you will have bad luck.
  • Social Context: Sarina has always believed in this superstition. It was taught to her by her parents and elders, and is a very commonly known and practiced superstition in Indian culture. She explained that if you ever step on a paper or book that has important information in it, you must put your hands to it, then put your hands over your head and say a quick prayer.

Item:

  • This superstition is has strong ties to religion- you must perform an action if you disrespect a god to prevent bad luck.

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

Transcript: “So basically, there’s a superstition in Indian culture, when you like step on a textbook or piece of paper or anything with information on it, you have to put your hands to it and then put both of your hands over the head to say sorry to like education i guess. It’s important because in Indian culture, one of the gods signifies education, so if you like step on education, like especially textbooks, then it means you’re disrespecting a certain god so you have to put your hands on the textbook, then put it over your head. That signifies like oh it was an accident and I wasn’t actually disrespecting like education. I guess it stems from one of the gods, and now, a lot of people, even if they’re not super involved with Indian culture, its just a thing that they do. If I accidentally step on a textbook or a piece of paper with my notes on it, I will put my hands on it and just say a quick I’m sorry because its like signifying you respect education.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • This superstition is an example of a conversion superstition: If you step on a textbook, you will have bad luck unless you put your hand to the textbook, then to your head and say a prayer.

Collector’s Name: Marlee Montella

Tags/Keywords:

  • Customary Lore
  • Superstition
  • Textbook

Accepting Gifts with Left Hand

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Title: Accepting gifts with left hand

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Lore, Superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: India
  • Informant: Priya Shukla
  • Date Collected: 11/12/18

Informant Data:

  • Priya Shukla is a ‘21 attending Dartmouth College. She is pre-med, majoring in English. She was born in London but currently lives in Boston, MA. Her parents are both Hindu. Her mother is from Jaipur and her father is from Agra. Both of her parents speak Hindi, and Priya and her younger brother, Chetan can both read and write Hindi.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: In Indian culture, the left hand is considered unclean, so if you accept a gift or money with your left hand, you will have bad luck. Another similar superstition is that people believe if your left palm starts itching, you will soon lose the money from your hands.
  • Social Context: This superstition is the most commonly seen out of the three that this informant told us about. She said that people must use their right hand for doing many specific actions, such as accepting a gift or money and during puja.

Item:

  • This superstition is the belief that the left hand is unclean.

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

Transcript: “So its inauspicious to use your left hand for anything, so if you’re holding food or like you’re doing a prayer, you always have to use your right hand. Um, or if you’re taking money or gifts anything like that on a holiday, you always have to use your right hand to hold it.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • This superstition is an example of a magic superstition: If you accept a gift or money with your left hand, then you will have bad luck.

Collector’s Name: Marlee Montella

Tags/Keywords:

  • Customary Lore
  • Superstition
  • Left hand

Men’s Rugby Initiation Ritual #1

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Initiation Ritual

Gordon Robinson
Dartmouth College
October 17th, 2018

Informant Data:

Gordon Robinson is a member of the class of 2021 here at Dartmouth and is a member of the Men’s Rugby Team. He is from London, England. He came to Dartmouth following his older brother who is a member of the class of 2019.

Contextual Data:

Social Context: This initiation ritual is performed by new members of the Dartmouth Rugby team. It is facilitated by the upperclassmen members of the team and occurs at the practice every Friday before a game.

Cultural Context: Rugby involves a lot of running, so being fast and in good shape is essential. Racing is a good way to encourage other members to run faster and work on their speed. It is also important for building morale.

Item:

At the end of practice, the freshmen compete in foot races against each other. The upperclassmen call out who is racing in each race. They will call groups of people designated by something they have in common such as all freshmen from a certain city/state or all freshmen who live in a certain dorm building/housing cluster. They upperclassmen then get into groups around whoever they believe will win and cheer them on.

Video Interview: rugby1-1qu0lcm

Analysis:

In this ritual, freshmen are separated from the team to race against each other. They then race each Friday with upperclassmen cheering them on. They are incorporated into the team through these races by bonding with upperclassmen and having fun.

Comparison:

This ritual involves intense physical activity similar to the men’s swim team ritual of swimming every event. In both rituals, freshmen are separated to complete these physical tasks and are cheered on and encouraged by the other members of the team.

Elliot Adams; 22 years old
Hanover, NH
Dartmouth College
Russian 13 Fall

Traveling in groups of Threes

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Title: Traveling in groups of Threes

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Lore, Superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: India
  • Informant: Priya Shukla
  • Date Collected: 11/12/18

Informant Data:

  • Priya Shukla is a ‘21 attending Dartmouth College. She is pre-med, majoring in English. She was born in London but currently lives in Boston, MA. Her parents are both Hindu. Her mother is from Jaipur and her father is from Agra. Both of her parents speak Hindi, and Priya and her younger brother, Chetan can both read and write Hindi.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: The number 3 in Hindu culture is an inauspicious number. It is associated with a Hindu saying that means “bad luck comes when there are three”. Similar to the number 13 in American culture, or 4 in Chinese culture, the number 3 is associated with bad luck, so if you leave in a group of 3, you will have bad luck. According to priya, this can be remedied by using an object to act as a 4th person, or having 2 people leave first, and the third can leave a few minutes later.
  • Social Context: Priya also learned this superstition from her parents. Since she has 4 members in her family, they usually did not pay much attention to this specific superstition, it was just something she knew about growing up. She said that this superstition is not as commonly practiced as some others, it mainly has to do with the inauspicious nature number three.

Item:

  • This superstition is based on the belief that 3 is an inauspicious number.

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

Transcript: “It’s also bad luck to travel in groups of 3 because 3 is an inauspicious number. So you would either have to use an object to act as a fourth person, or two people would have to leave the house first, then the third person could join them a few minutes later.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • This is an example of a magic superstition. If you leave in a group of 3, then you will have bad luck.

Collector’s Name: Marlee Montella

Tags/Keywords:

  • Customary Lore
  • Superstition
  • Three