Ritual
Coronavirus Cleansing
Shawn Jiang
San Ramon, California
2020
Informant Data:
Shawn is an Asian-American male born in San Ramon, CA on October 15, 2000. He’s currently a sophomore at the University of Chicago and considers himself well-read on coronavirus and the safety precautions he can take to mitigate risk.
Contextual Data:
As coronavirus has spread to the United States, families are taking a variety of precautions to mitigate the risk of spread. One point of access is through groceries, which pass through any number of potentially contaminated places or people. Some have adopted extra measures to clean groceries or to ensure a greater chance of elimination of the virus on their groceries.
Item: Shawn’s family leaves groceries in the garage for a couple of days after purchase. He hopes that this process kills any remnants of the virus on his groceries. This ritual therefore serves a practical purpose of safety.
Kevin Xiao, 19
5517 London Way
San Ramon, CA 94582
Dartmouth College
Russ 13
Spring 2020
Ritual
Coronavirus Cleansing
Maggie Johnston
St. Paul, Minnesota
2020
Informant Data:
Maggie Johnston is a white American female born on October 22, 1999 in Toronto, Canada. She currently lives in St. Paul, Minnesota. Maggie says that although she adheres to all government guidelines, she considers the threat of coronavirus to her or her family relatively minor; nevertheless, she adheres to a common ritual for packages ordered online to mitigate the risk of coronavirus. Maggie is a sophomore studying at Dartmouth College.
Contextual Data:
Partly because Minnesota has been more isolated from coronavirus than many other areas in the country and partly because Maggie’s father works as an eye surgeon who is already in contact with tens of patients a day, the risk of coronavirus is both reduced in the state—creating a culture of more lax protocols—and harder to mitigate in Maggie’s household.
Item: Maggie’s family leaves packages in a designated spot for a few days after receiving them to ensure they are cleansed of coronavirus. Like other variants, including leaving groceries in one’s garage for a period of time after purchase, this ritual serves the practical purpose of ensuring safety and cleanliness.
Kevin Xiao, 19
5517 London Way
San Ramon, CA 94582
Dartmouth College
Russ 13
Spring 2020
Conspiracy Theory/Urban Legend
Chinese Government’s Role in the Spread of Coronavirus
Michael Xiao
San Ramon, California
2020
Informant Data:
Michael is an Asian-American male born in Santa Rosa, CA on April 6, 2000. Both of his parents are immigrants from China, but Michael has been raised in the United States, which has often been a rival to China in great power politics. Michael is fervently pro-US and anti-Communist Party of China and considers himself well-read on global politics. He’s currently a sophomore at Georgetown University.
Contextual Data:
As coronavirus has spread to the United States, President Donald Trump has sought to improve his chance at reelection and secure shelter from political animosity by deflecting blame for the epidemic on the Communist Party of China. In doing so, the president has promoted a theory questioning whether or not the current strain of coronavirus originated from a Wuhan lab that had been studying similar forms of the virus in the months and years prior. This conspiracy theory/urban legend serves a practical, political purpose of aiding reelection and a nationalist purpose for unifying a country in pandemic against a common, tangible enemy.
Item: [Paraphrased version of Michael’s description of the conspiracy theory]
Although I don’t subscribe to conspiracy theories, I recently heard of a myth regarding the Chinese Community Party’s role in the spread of coronavirus (note from the collector: I think the more proper term is a conspiracy theory or urban legend, rather than a myth). Apparently a Wuhan lab had been studying coronavirus before the epidemic and it may be possible that the lab had an accident or something that released the virus into the public. Again, I don’t believe the theory, especially without proof, but it’s interesting to think about, especially because the coronavirus may not have been spread at a wet market.
Kevin Xiao, 19
5517 London Way
San Ramon, CA 94582
Dartmouth College
Russ 13
Spring 2020
Quincy Peters is a High School student from San Francisco, California. She considers herself to be a “spiritual liberal,” and has lived in San Francisco her whole life. Her mother is German and wanted her to know German growing up, so she enrolled Quincy in a German school program.
Contextual Data:
Cultural Context: These German nursery rhymes were used in various ways to entertain and teach children about the world. Certain rhymes were used when parents were playing with their kids, while others were used in school settings to teach children about physical objects, like animals and baking ingredients. The main object for parent-taught nursery rhymes was to entertain children, while school-taught nursery rhymes were mainly meant as an alternative means of education.
Social Context: These specific nursery rhymes were brought up after I had asked about the informant’s childhood, and if there were any differences between learning nursery rhymes at school versus at home.
Item:
Advent ein Lichtlein brennt: This nursery rhyme is based on a Christmas celebration. In Germany, the Advent tradition is the preparation for the arrival of “Christkind” on his birthday, december 25th.
The Nursery Rhyme: Advent, Advent,
ein Lichtlein brennt.
Erst eins, dann zwei,
dann drei, dann vier,
dann steht das Christkind vor der Tür.
English Translation: Advent, Advent,
A little light is burning.
First one, then two,
Then three, then four,
Then Christkind stands at the door.
Backe Backe: This nursery rhyme depicts the ingredients for a cake. It is usually sung to a child so that they hopefully remember these ingredients while baking.
The Nursery Rhyme: Backe, backe Kuchen,
der Bäcker hat gerufen.
Wer will feinen Kuchen backen,
der muss haben 7 Sachen:
Zucker und Salz,
Butter und Schmalz,
Eier und Mehl,
Safran macht den Kuchen gelb.
Schieb in den Ofen rein.
English Translation: Bake, bake the cake
The baker has declared.
If one wants to bake a fine cake
He has to have these 7 things:
Sugar and salt,
Butter and lard,
Eggs and flour
Saffron makes the cake yellow,
Slide it into the oven.
Häschen in der Grube: This nursery rhyme is sung to a sick child in hopes that they will get better and to lift their spirits.
The Nursery Rhyme: Häschen in der Grube saß und schlief,
saß und schlief.
“Armes Häschen, bist du krank,
daß du nicht mehr hüpfen kannst?
Häschen hüpf! Häschen hüpf! Häschen hüpf!”
English Translation: Little rabbit sat in his burrow and was asleep,
Sat and slept,
“Poor little rabbit, are you ill,
So you can’t hop about any more?
Rabbit hop! Rabbit hop! Rabbit hop!”
Hoppe Hoppe Reiter: This nursery rhyme is a popular favorite among children. They ride their parent’s knees while the parent sings this rhyme, and at the end the parent opens their knees dropping the child.
The Nursery Rhyme: Hoppe, hoppe, Reiter,
Wenn er fällt, dann schreit er.
Fällt er in die Hecken,
Tut er sich erschrecken.
Fällt er in den Sumpf
Macht der Reiter plumps!
English Translation: Hop, hop, rider,
If he falls, he will cry.
If he falls into the hedges,
He will get frightened.
If he falls into the mud,
The rider falls with a splash!
Associated File/Transcript:
Advent ein Lichtlein brennt:
Backe Backe:
Häschen in der Grube:
Hoppe Hoppe Reiter:
Collector’s Comments: I found these nursery rhymes very entertaining and catchy. I can see why they’re taught to children; they’re fun and easy to memorize!
Katya Pronichenko was born November 6, 2000. She was born and raised in L.A., where she lived with her older brother and Russian and Ukrainian parents. Growing up, Katya attended Russian school in her native L.A. and frequently spoke Russian to her friends and family. Katya is a current Dartmouth student in the class of 2023.
Contextual Data:
Social context: As a young girl, Katya learned this nursery rhyme from dad, who told it to help her fall asleep.
Cultural context: This nursery rhyme is well-known and uniform throughout Russia but has little to no cultural implications.
Item:
Audio File:
Original Text:
Баю-баюшки баю
Не ложись на краю
Придёт серенький волчок,
И укусит за бочок
Transliteration:
Bayu-bayushki bayu
Ne lozhis’ na krayu
Pridyot seren’kiy volchok,
I ukusit za bochok
Word-for-word translation:
Hush-a-bye, Hush-a-bye,
Don’t lie on the edge.
Will come a gray wolf,
And bite you in the side.
Free translation:
Hush, hush, hush
Stay away from the edge.
If not, a gray wolf will come
And bite your side.
Informant’s Comments: Katya interpreted the nursery rhyme as a calming ritual before falling asleep. She also recognized that it contained warnings about not lying too close to the bed at night, a warning that is indicative of other nursery rhymes that served to lull a child to sleep.
Collector’s Comments: The nursery rhyme was told to help still a child’s movements, easing both the parents’ and childs’ mind at night. In Russian folklore, wolves are frequently used as an omen of danger, which reflects that this rhyme is deeply rooted in the verbal folklore of Russian culture.
Katya Pronichenko was born November 6, 2000. She was born and raised in L.A., where she lived with her older brother and Russian and Ukrainian parents. Growing up, Katya attended Russian school in her native L.A. and frequently spoke Russian to her friends and family. Katya is a current Dartmouth student in the class of 2023.
Contextual Data:
Social context: As a young girl, Katya heard this nursery rhyme from her parents. The short story contained within the rhyme served as entertainment for small children. When discussing this nursery rhyme, Katya joyfully recalled this nostalgic memory from her childhood.
Cultural context: This nursery rhyme is well-known and uniform throughout Russia but has little to no cultural implications.
Item:
Audio File:
Original Text:
Раз, два, три, четыре, пять,
Вышел зайчик погулять.
Вдруг охотник выбегает,
Прямо в зайчика стреляет.
Пиф – паф! Ой-ой-ой!
Умирает зайчик мой.
Привезли его домой,
Оказался он живой!
Transliteration:
Raz, dva, tri, chetyre, pyat’,
Vyshel zaychik pogulyat’.
Vdrug okhotnik vybegaet,
Pryamo v zaychika strelyaet.
Pif – paf! Oy-oy-oy!
Umiraet zaychik moy.
Privezli yevo domoy,
Okazalsya on zhivoy!
Word-for-word translation:
One, two, three, four, five
A bunny went out for a walk.
Suddenly a hunter appeared,
And shot the bunny.
Bang! Bang! Oh, oh, oh!
My bunny is going to die.
He was brought home,
Turns out he’s alive.
Free translation:
One, two, three, four, five
A bunny went for a walk.
Suddenly a hunter appeared,
And shot the bunny.
Bang! Bang! Oh, no!
My bunny is going to die,
I brought him home,
But turns out he was alive.
Informant’s Comments: Katya interpreted the nursery rhyme as a short story simply detailing how a rabbit was shot in the forest but miraculously survived.
Collector’s Comments: Although not always appearing simultaneously, rabbits, forests, and hunters are all common elements in Russian folklore. Their inclusion in this nursery rhyme reflects the importance of these core figures as a part of the Russian cultural identity in verbal genres.
