Author Archives: olord@usc.edu

La LLorona

Context:

Sophia Lopez is a Senior studying Screenwriting at USC. I was sitting with friends when she approached the table and began speaking to one of my friends that she knew. When I asked her if I could record folklore, she needed no definition–she launched straight into the story of La Llorona.

Transcript:

Sophia: My name’s Sophia. Andddd. Okay, so when I was little, I didn’t ever like to go to bed on time, like I was really kind of like a cool kid, and my Nanny would like, she would get really frustrated with me because I, um, wouldn’t ever be in bed on time, and, uh, my family’s Mexican, so they tell a lot of Mexican folklore, well they did when I was little. And so anyways there’s this woman called La Llorona, you know about her?

Owen: We learned about her in class.

Sophia: Yeah, okay, so basically, when I was little, and a bad kid, they told me a story about this woman La Llorona who her husband. Well, there are two versions. One her husband left her and she killed all her kids by drowning them in the river, and that was one version they said. But the other version is that there’s a terrible mudslide and all of her like eight children died and so at night…you know the La Llorona, like it translates to the Weeping Woman, so at night she wanders the streets looking for kids who are out past their bedtime because she wants to take them as their own and either like out of habit she’ll drown them in the river too, or she’ll take them with her to Hell. So that was my, once they told me that I really wanted to go to sleep on time. She can’t see kids who are already asleep.

Interpretation:

When we spoke about La Llorona in our USC Forms of Folklore class, several versions were given from the class. Fittingly, Sophia had two versions handy. The most common trend I have noticed in this legend is that its purpose is to keep children inside the house at night or to get them to go to bed.

Jinn in Zanzibar

Context:

Stanley Kalu was raised in Nigeria. Since then, he and his family have lived in various African countries. He currently studies screenwriting at the University of Southern California. He is a friend of mine, and he has often told me stories about growing up in Nigeria. I asked him for folklore, and without even needing to ask for Nigerian folklore, he offered up several pieces, including two proverbs. When I asked why he gave me two proverbs, he said that his mother often said them to him, and that mothers and their proverbs are so infamous that there are meme websites dedicated to them that he visits when he feels homesick.

Transcript:

Stanley: So, I was going, my name is Stanley Kalu. I was going on a trip to a beach in Zanzibar and a Muslim friend of mine told me to watch out for Jinn. And I was like, “what’s a Jinn?” And she was like, “Yo, Jinns are like these people that look like people but aren’t people, they’re like more genies and they walk backwards and what they’ll do, what they do is they’ll trick you and steal your soul. So when you’re in Zanzibar living it up, sipping Mojitos on the beach, do not, if a person comes up to you walking backwards, run the fuck away.

Interpretation:

In Muslim tradition, Jinn are spirits that can appear in human and animal form to possess humans. Often, Jinn require sacrifices and a commitment to them in order for them to be kind in return. In my previous understanding of Jinn, they possess humans or ask for tasks from humans. Stanley’s explanation of them “stealing souls” could be a simplification of their purpose. It could also show the particular folk beliefs about Jinn in Zanzibar–that perhaps they are used as a scare tactic, something to avoid at all costs.

Nigerian Thief Proverb

Context:

Stanley Kalu was raised in Nigeria. Since then, he and his family have lived in various African countries. He currently studies screenwriting at the University of Southern California. He is a friend of mine, and he has often told me stories about growing up in Nigeria. I asked him for folklore, and without even needing to ask for Nigerian folklore, he offered up several pieces, including two proverbs. When I asked why he gave me two proverbs, he said that his mother often said them to him, and that mothers and their proverbs are so infamous that there are meme websites dedicated to them that he visits when he feels homesick. Stanley provided the proverb in English.

Transcript:

Stanley: This is a great Nigerian proverb. “Every day is for the thief. One day is for the owner of the house.”

Owen: Could you explain what this proverb means to you?

Stanley: It means that while you can do all the crimes that you want, every day, one day you will get caught and you will get found out.

Owen: Did someone used to say this to you repeatedly?

Stanley: Nah, my Mom just said it one time.

Interpretation:

This is a great example of a proverb that makes little sense to an outsider. When he told me the proverb, I could barely guess what it meant. It is his following explanation that is necessary for understanding. It was also interesting that I had to ask him for the explanation–he stated the proverb so obviously at first.

Morgan’s Steep

Context:

Will Lord is my brother. I visited him at his University recently. He attends the University of the South, also known as Sewanee. Given its regal name, one would assume that the school is rich in tradition and folklore. One would be correct. The school was established in 1857. Given its small student body, many feel compelled to join fraternities and societies which each have their own collection of folklore. The school itself is full of legends. While walking around campus, I recorded him talking about famous locations, legends, etc.

Transcript:

Owen: Is this Morgan’s Steep?

Will: Yeah Morgan’s Steep was named after the Confederate General who rode his horse off the bluff in order to protect and hide the military documents he was carrying from the Union Army that was on his tail, never actually happened though, that was just the legend for a while.

Interpretation: 

Here, the legend of a Confederate soldier riding his horse off a cliff is so famous that the lookout point is named after him. There was even a rock that read “Morgan’s Steep.” Will pointed out that this was a mere legend, which to him meant that it was not true. But as a legend implies in the folklore realm, many might defend its validity.

Nigerian Snake Legend

Context:

Stanley Kalu was raised in Nigeria. Since then, he and his family have lived in various African countries. He currently studies screenwriting at the University of Southern California. He is a friend of mine, and he has often told me stories about growing up in Nigeria. I asked him for folklore, and without even needing to ask for Nigerian folklore, he offered up several pieces, including two proverbs. When I asked why he gave me two proverbs, he said that his mother often said them to him, and that mothers and their proverbs are so infamous that there are meme websites dedicated to them that he visits when he feels homesick.

Transcript:

Stanley: Some traditional Nigerian folklore.

Owen: What’s your name?

Stanley: Stanley Kalu. So in my younger and more vulnerable years, my mama would tell me a story and it was about another mother who kept her daughter inside the house at all times because she was so scared that her daughter would get hurt going out into the real world. And one day she left the house and a snake came in and ate her daughter. And this is a lesson in you can’t protect your kids from everything. Stanley’s Mom, she’s a G, lots of love, Mom.

Interpretation:

This folk legend of the snake is a similar to many stories that tell of the dangers of the world. Stories like La Llorona encourage children to stay inside because they could get hurt or kidnapped or killed in the world. This story also speaks to the dangers of the world, but takes a different tone when it’s moral is that you cannot protect your kids from everything.