Context: The informant, a 19-year-old Chinese-American college student, shared this proverb with me on the Lunar New Year. We were discussing how her parents raised her to embrace her Chinese-American identity. She began describing several cultural superstitions that she was taught as a child and continues to practice today Text: Informant: Alright, so I’m not sure if […]
“When I was growing up sometimes my eyes would twitch, I know it’s weird, but anyway my mom would always tell me how if your eyelid for your right eye twitches that means something good is going to happen to you soon or like in the near future, but like if your left eye started […]
*Note: The informant is an Indian-American student at USC. She identifies with the Hindu religion and is generally in touch with her Indian heritage, though she was born in the U.S. and is thus very Americanized. INFORMANT: “Hindus have a lot of really specific little things that we can’t do or that are considered unlucky and […]
I was interviewing my informant about superstitions he had at home and this is the transcription of that interview: “Informant: Well, I’m Glenn and I’m from New Orleans and I’ve been there since I was a toddler. I guess a story that I know of, back home uh, whenever, there are certain things, nerves that […]
Story: Minecraft players have talked about this figure Herobrine, who basically looks like the character Steve but without eyeballs, for a few years. You summon Herobrine by making an altar our of gold, nether, and torches. It’s less common to see Herobrine himself – although some players have claimed to – but you can tell […]