I.P. is a ~55 year old man living in New Jersey. He was born in Tlaxcala, Mexico and has spent over 20 years in the United States, where he lives with two of his siblings and, up until they started university, his two nephews and niece. In the US, his family usually celebrates Christmas by inviting over more family members, preparing food, and partaking in some traditions with respect to his religion.
Contextual Data:
Cultural Context: Unlike the American culture of viewing soup as an appetizer, the Mexican culture views it as a full meal, leading to the creation of many soups such as “Caldo de Res”, “Caldo de Pollo,” “Pozole,” and “Menudo.” Menudo was created due to not wanting to waste any parts of an animal. That is why the honeycomb cow tripe is frequently used for this dish.
Social Context: Menudo can be eaten at any time, but due to its status as a hangover cure, it is very common during celebratory events. Due to this, it is often seen as a breakfast or lunch meal during Christmas Day, as a quick fix to all the relatives who drank a little too much.
Item:
The traditional procedure involves obtaining dried chili peppers including: 1lb of guajillo, 2-3 chipotle peppers, 3 costeno peppers, then cutting their tail, removing the seeds, and boiling them to soften them up. Afterwards, you blend them all together with a handful of cilantro, some onion, some epazote, salt, and 1-2 garlic cloves. While doing this, blanch the honeycomb tripe, and then boil it once more with epazote. Once the meat softens, add the salsa. It is typically eaten with some lime, chopped cilantro and onions.
Translation of Interview Clip:
C.Y. (collector): So you mentioned it is seen as a sort of cure to hangovers, have you ever had it for that purpose?
I.P. (informant): Well, I mean, yea haha, I can’t say I haven’t tried it. That is, back when I used to drink heavily. It’s been a long time since then, and I’m a new man hahaha. But I have to say it is quite effective, it helps sweat out the ailment.
C.Y.: Aaah, I see I see, did you notice it having any other sort of health benefits?
I.P.: Personally, not really haha. When we ate, we ate a lot. So we’d start feeling tired after eating so much, so it’s pretty hard to know. Just a great meal during any time of the day.
Collector’s Comments:
My family doesn’t only eat menudo during celebrations since it is one of my favorite meals. Typically it’s also whenever I can persuade my family we should make it. My family also ties homeopathic magic to certain meals; one of these includes menudo as it is eaten very hot, and very spicy, so as to kind of wake you up and sweat out the ailment.
Genre: Material Lore – food, Customary Lore – celebration, superstition
Language: English
Country of Origin: US
Informant: M.W.
Date Collected: November 13, 2020
Informant Data:
M.W. was born in New York in 2001. He grew up in Long Island with his parents and older brother. Currently, he attends University of Massachusetts, Amherst where he studies microbiology. He is fully Chinese as his parents are both from Fuzhou, China. He would celebrate Chinese New Year each year with his family. However, regarding the family feast, his family would typically go to a restaurant for the meal rather than prepare the food themselves.
Contextual Data:
Cultural Context: Fish is a commonly eaten food in Chinese culture as the fishing industry in China is among the largest in the world. There is a large emphasis on sharing food in Chinese culture as meals are often eaten “family style.” While fish can be prepared in many ways, a whole fish serves as a great family style dish as its large size allows all members of the meal to have some.
Social Context: While Chinese New Year feasts are typically prepared and enjoyed at home, it is also common for families that celebrate to have a meal at a Chinese restaurant, instead.
Item:
A whole fish is a very common dish in a Chinese New Year dinner. This whole fish, which includes the skin, bones, head and tail, is usually steamed with ginger, scallions, soy sauce and other herbs. As for the type of fish, there’s no specific fish that must be used. The reason why all parts of the fish are included in the dish is because the whole fish represents the whole family being together to enjoy a big feast for the new year. It symbolizes unity, connectedness and the strength of familial bonds, which are all important features of Chinese culture.
Audio Clip:
Transcript:
C.C. (collector): What’s one dish that you and your family typically eat for Chinese New Year?
M.W. (informant): What we eat for Chinese New Year is a whole fish. This fish is prepared by steaming it with gingers scallions, soy sauce and other assorted herbs. The reason we eat the whole fish, including the head and tail is because it represents the whole family being together on new years. by having the whole fish it shows how it brings the whole family together to enjoy a big feast.
Informant Comments:
This is his favorite way fish can be prepared because of how simple the ingredients are and how clean the dish tastes.
Collector Comments:
A steamed whole fish is a part of my family’s Chinese New Year meal as well, and since it is one of the main dishes of the meal, we have a certain tradition with it. The younger members of the family must serve pieces of the fish to the adults first before eating themselves, and this demonstrates the idea of respecting elders in Chinese culture.
R.J. is a 21-year-old senior studying Economics at UC Berkeley. He was born in Houston, Texas but grew up in Shanghai, China. While living in China, he celebrated Chinese New Year every year with his family, participating in a variety of traditional festivities.
Contextual Data:
Cultural Context: Fish is an essential dish for Chinese New Year across most, if not all, regions in China due to its association with wealth and prosperity. Although fish can be cooked in many ways, it is usually steamed with a mixture of traditional ingredients like ginger, scallion, and soy sauce. Certain types of fish, like catfish, are sometimes chosen over others because their names have additional symbolic meaning. Many households impose their own rules regarding how the fish is served, e.g., the fish head must be oriented towards guests or elders.
Social Context: During Chinese New Year’s Eve, it is customary for an extended family to hold a large dinner gathering either at home or at a fancy restaurant, to share an assortment of traditional dishes including fish. Usually, the dinner gathering also features other activities such as toasting to the elders’ health and giving red envelopes which contain allowance money to the children.
Item:
Catfish is commonly eaten for Chinese New Year because of its auspicious name “nián yú” (鲶鱼), which is a homophone for the characters that mean “surplus year over year” (年余). Typically, catfish is cooked with the body, head, and bones intact as a symbol for the preservation of wealth. After all, people want to receive the entirety of next year’s surplus rather than just a fraction.
Audio Clip:
Transcript:
W.W. (collector): Right. Thank you so much. Um, so as I told you earlier, for this project, we’ll be talking about Chinese New Year, specifically, a special festival dish that’s eaten during Chinese New Year. Uh, yeah so, can you describe the name of your item?
R.J. (informant): Yeah, absolutely. So the dish I’ll be talking about today would be catfish. Um, yeah.
W.W.: Cool. Yeah. So um, go ahead and tell us about catfish.
R.J.: Yeah, sure. Um, so before I dive into, like catfish, specifically, I would first like to talk about why Chinese people like to eat fish in general. And the reason is because the word fish in Chinese sounds a lot like the word surplus in Chinese. So in Chinese, fish is pronounced “yú” (鱼). And in, um, the … yeah basically, surplus is also pronounced “yú” (余). So, Chinese people really like surplus because they believe that if you’re able to save up a lot of money, um, in the current year, then in the next year, uh, it’s a pretty good sign, and you’ll have more to work around with because he had that savings from the previous year, right. So at the end of the year, during Chinese New Year, when people eat fish in general, they’re basically praying that this year, they got surplus, and that that surplus will carry forward to, um, the next year. So specifically, with regards to catfish, people eat catfish, because catfish in Chinese is pronounced as “nián yú” (鲶鱼). Now “nián” (年) in Chinese means year. So basically, when you combine those two terms, it means, uh, yearly fish. So basically, going back to what I said earlier of how, like, fish means surplus, it basically means having surplus year over year. So that’s the particular reason for why Chinese people like to eat catfish. Um, and specifically with regards to how they make it, I think one common thing, I’m not too sure about it, is that they always ensure that the fish is whole, so they never cut up the fish into parts. And the main reason is because they want to like have all of the surplus and not have like just parts of it right? When you divide it up, it becomes less than the whole, so that’s why they tend to, um, you know, cook it whole, like head, body all in one, uh, for … yeah.
W.W.: Cool. Um, thanks for sharing. Um, so, catfish, is this something that you eat with your family members or your friends during Chinese New Year?
R.J.: Yeah, definitely. So, um, pretty much every single year, we try to get at least one fish dish, um, on the table, basically the day before the New Year’s. Um, so yeah, catfish is probably the most common one that I eat. Um, we’ve also had like, other fishes, um, just sort of like, depending on what we’re feeling like. But I’ll say that catfish is probably the most common fish I’ve had on Chinese New Year’s Eve for like the past, say 20 years of my life.
Informant’s Comments:
An additional tradition that may be unique to my family is that we always try to go for the fish eye. Because apparently, from my parents, they’ve told me that eating the fish eye is a good symbol of prosperity in the next year because the fish eye is kind of like the core part of the fish. It represents the spirit and the heart of the fish, I guess, so they’ve always told me that if you’re able to get the fish eye really quickly, then, uh, next year, you’ll have good fortune. So, you know, one thing that we would do at the dinner table would be to fight over the fish eye. Uh, sometimes it gets pretty ugly, but other times, it’s usually pretty fun. Yep.
Collector’s Comments:
For Chinese New Year, my family also eats fish but not catfish specifically. In my family, the fish eye is viewed as the most nutritious part of the fish and a symbol of wisdom. It is usually given to one of the younger children to help them grow smart and strong. This is an example of homeopathic magic.
W.M. is a male Dartmouth College student. He is unaffiliated.
Contextual Data:
Cultural Context: The celebration of new members into a fraternity is celebrated amongst the brothers in a social event open to campus as well. The celebrations include a theme, sometimes a traditional theme of the house or decided on each year. Members of the house, new and old, dress in costumes in accordance with the theme and celebrate together.
Social Context: Social gathering is a common event put on by a fraternity and open to the campus. In these instances, a theme for the party is decided on by the house and is put on, usually around the end of the rush process.
Item:
Many fraternities hold social gatherings before, during, and after the rush process. It is common for these to have themes decided on by the members, new and old, of the house hosting the gathering. Typically the new members are celebrated as the members all dress in costume and decorate the house for the gathering.
Collector’s Comments:
I found this tradition to be an interesting custom as it is open to non-members. The fraternity members are typically the ones deciding and dressing in theme, but then they open up the celebration to the campus as well.
E.W. is a female Dartmouth Student. She is affiliated.
Contextual Data:
Cultural Context: Fraternities and Sororities at Dartmouth both partake in rush and bid night parties. These are parties for the new members of their respective houses. Sometimes a Fraternity and Sorority will together throw a joint party for their new members.
Social Context: The celebration of new members of a house is usually some form of social gathering. The combining of two different houses for a social gathering meant for the new members is a common social practice.
Item:
The joint parties of a Fraternity and Sorority refer to parties thrown by two houses together to celebrate their new class of members. These are therefore much larger and grander than celebrations done just by members of the house themselves.
Collector’s Comments:
I found this to be a cool tradition as it mixes the somewhat separate processes of rushing a Fraternity versus a Sorority.
R.C. is a male student at Dartmouth College. He is affiliated.
Contextual Data:
Cultural Context: Families are small units of close individuals. The adoption of this technique into fraternity culture serves a similar purpose.
Social Context: House families are smaller groups in the house new members are sorted in to. These act as smaller and closer social groups for the new members in the house.
Item:
This specific fraternity gives its new members “families” within its members. These families consist of one to two new members and a handful of older members to serve as a resource during and after the rush process.
Collector’s Comments:
I found these families to be an interesting and useful way to help new members during the rush process. They stay families for life, long after active membership in the fraternity ends. In this specific example, the family the informant was in was easily dated back to Dartmouth alumni from 2014.
Informant Data: memeshappen.com is a social platform for easily generating and sharing memes. It is a very easy way for memes to go viral throughout social media. These memes are posted anonymously so there is no way to discover the exact informant.
Social context: I discovered this meme on May 25, 2020. Memes of Slenderman have become a very common occurrence. Although the majority of the memes tend to reference Slenderman a lack of facial features.
Cultural context: Slenderman is known to get inside the head of his victims causing them to do things that they are not truly in control of. That’s why when this meme suggests that Slenderman told me to eat the last cookie from the cookie jar, it is deferring the blame to Slenderman cause they claim to not have been in control of their actions.
The informant is a current Dartmouth student. He is a member of the class of 2022 and is affiliated.
Contextual Data:
Cultural Context: When rushing a fraternity, there is a sense of pride and community associated with the house and its members. Members are seen as “brothers” and the house is the “home” of its members. The singing of a song honors these two traditions.
Social Context: The collective act of singing together has always been associated with the idea of community. The singing of a house song is a social activity new and old members participate in to foster this principle.
Item:
There is a song made up by the fraternity members, that is sung to honor the house and its members. This is meant to help new members feel welcomed during the rush process (or directly after).
Collector’s Comments:
The use of a song to help new members feel part of a new community is not uncommon. I thought it was interesting to see the same type of welcoming folklore displayed in this process.
K.B. was born in the suburbs of New York and is currently a freshman in highschool
Social context: I interviewed K.B. on May 18, 2020 over FaceTime. He shared his interpretations of Slenderman and what came to his mind when he heard that name.
Cultural context: Slenderman is an urban legend that originated through multiple stories shared across the internet. He is often depicted as a tall faceless man who primarily targets children. The website creepypasta is a public forum where anybody can post scary stories they have written anonymously. This site is home to numerous folklore of Slenderman.
“The setting of the story was off putting because when I imagine Slenderman I think of him in the woods.The story ended in a typical erie way and the self inflicted injuries the girl inflicted is in line with some of the powers i think Slenderman has”
J.S. is a member of the Class of 2020 at Dartmouth and is affiliated with Greek Life. He is from New Jersey and studies Economics.
Contextual Data:
Cultural context: This refers to deciding and letting a fraternity know that they are your first option during rush. It typically occurs on a Friday night and in some cases on Saturday night.
Social context: This item was collected through video chat. This cultural artifact is part of the start of the rush process.
Item: Shaking out is a custom through which potential new members let a fraternity know that they are very interested in that fraternity and that it is their first choice. It refers to a ritual that is common across all fraternities.
Collector’s Comments:
What makes this item important is that is often the very first step in the rush process and is a ritual that all fraternity members can relate to.
