Auguri e Figli Maschi:
General Information about Item:
- Verbal Folklore: Proverb
- Italian
- Italy
Informants: Roberta Montesano and Alessandro Barbera
Roberta was born in the south of Italy in Puglia, specifically in the city of Lecce. This is located in southeastern Italy in the “heel of the boot.” She has studied in Milan for two years and is an exchange student at Dartmouth College right now until the winter. She is 21 years old and studies economics. Roberta has attended 3 or 4 Italian weddings in her life. Alessandro is also from the south of Italy in Puglia, and he has also been studying in Milan for two years. He is 21 and also studies economics. He is studying at Dartmouth College until the winter, and he came here as an exchange student to try the “American College Experience.” Alessandro has attended around five Italian weddings
Contextual Data:
- According to the two, weddings in Italy differ with each region. Being from southern Italy, they had the most information about southern Italian weddings. Many of the traditions of the weddings that they describe are universal throughout Italy and some throughout Europe, but they are aware that Northern weddings, or other regions, have many of their own traditions, although they were not fully aware of any specifics, besides that in Naples, families have very large weddings and host all of the guests for the event.
Item:
- A common toast or wish of good luck to a couple on their wedding day is “Auguri e figli maschi,” which means – Congratulations and I hope you have male babies. Literal translation: Best wishes and sons
Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):
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https://youtu.be/LMRJO7FQWj8 – (3:55 – 4:40)
Transcript of Associated File:
- “Auguri e Figli Maschi, it’s like ‘Congrats and I hope you are going to have male babies.'” “And why male babies?” “I think we’ve got a mentality, well, we used to have a mentality, that male children were more profitable for the family.” “Like the first born.” “It’s like a patriarchal family.” “But that’s from the past.”
Informant’s Comments:
- Roberta noted that this societal view is somewhat outdated, but this phrase is still said at Italian weddings.
Collector’s Comments:
- This statement derives from the patriarchal society of Italy. It is considered better to have male babies than to have female babies, as males have more power within society and can carry down the family name, while females must succumb to the name of their husbands.
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