Monthly Archives: April 2017

Un dólar y pico

Nationality: Mexican-American
Age: 24
Occupation: Student
Residence: Fontana, CA
Performance Date: 4/25/17
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Informant: Liz is a 24-year-old student born and raised in Southern California. Her mother is from a town near Guadalajara, Mexico. Liz returns to Mexico sometimes to visit family, but speaks Spanish at home.

Main Piece:
Original: “¿Cuanto le regreso el cajero al pato después de que le dio 5 pesos por una volsa de semilla de 3 pesos 25 centavos? Le regresó un dólar y pico.”

Translation: “How much did the cashier give back to the duck after he paid 5 pesos for some seed that cost 3 pesos and 25 cents? He gave him a dollar and change.”

Per the informant, “the joke is funny because, in Mexico, pico can mean either ‘change’ or ‘beak’, like a duck’s beak. So it’s a pun, although it doesn’t translate that well into English”

Background Information about the Performance: The informant was told this joke by her cousins when she was in Mexico.

Context of Performance: This joke is told between people when bored or just as entertainment.

Thoughts: I thought this joke was interesting because it resembles another joke in English, namely: “What did the duck say to the waitress? Put it on my bill” or something similar. That such a joke can exist cross-linguistically is notable. The joke is also a good example of how poorly puns translate into other languages, as this joke makes very little sense in English.

 

Bonfire Night

Nationality: English
Age: 61
Occupation: Mother
Residence: San Diego, CA
Performance Date: 3/18/20
Primary Language: English

Informant: Valerie is a 61-year-old, born and raised in Dorking, England. She moved to Pennsylvania at 40, and to San Diego at 45. She still regularly visits England, where all her family still live.

Main Piece: “Back when I lived in England, we would celebrate Bonfire Night every 5th of November. Every Bonfire Night when I was growing up, my family would go out to the center of town and there’d be a big celebration. It was all about remembering Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot and celebrating that he was caught. We’d set off fireworks and burn an effigy of him, and have a big…almost a party, with loads of food. Kids would go around dragging big…scarecrows dressed like Guy Fawkes. It was very important to my mum.”

Background Information about the Performance: The Gunpowder Plot was an attempt by Guy Fawkes at destabilizing the British Government in the 1600s. Bonfire Night celebrates the fact that he was caught before the Plot was executed. For the informant, she remembers this piece because of how important it was to her family at the time. The informant still celebrates Bonfire Night in San Diego by cooking a special meal that night.

Context of Performance: The piece was performed annually on the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot.

Thoughts: Upon further research, I have found that the celebration of Bonfire Night has dwindled significantly since the time the informant lived in England. However, she continues the tradition, although in a much more subdued manner, in the United States.

Bob Ross Twitch Meme

Nationality: Canadian
Age: 23
Occupation: Stage Manager
Residence: Santee, CA
Performance Date: 4/23/17
Primary Language: English

Informant: Alex is a 23-year-old from Southern California. He self-identifies as a gamer. He also frequently uses Twitch, a website that allows people around the world to stream videos – especially of themselves playing video games – live.

Main Piece:
twitch-bob-ross

Background Information about the Performance: This piece was found online by the informant. It depicts Bob Ross, a famous painter and TV personality, painting the Twitch logo. Bob Ross is a popular meme on Twitch following a nine-day-long marathon of his original program, The Joy of Painting. In this meme, his face has been replaced by another Twitch meme, Kappa. Kappa is a prominent emote used on Twitch videos.

Context of Performance: This meme is spread around internet communities, specifically through Twitch and other social media sites.

Thoughts: This particular meme is somewhat unique as it combines two separate memes in the Twitch community. It is also notable as it is authored media that has become a meme spread around the community.

Don’t Bring a Feather into the House

Nationality: Scottish
Age: 27
Occupation: Professor
Residence: Boston, MA
Performance Date: 4/26/17
Primary Language: English

Informant: Dr. Çulik-Baird is a 27-year-old professor. She was born and raised in Scotland, and moved to Los Angeles at 21. She recently moved to Boston for a job.

Main Piece:
Hannah: “When I was little, my mother would always warn me not to bring a bird’s feather into the house. My dad didn’t believe it, but my mother would always warn me against it.”

 

Interviewer: What would happen if you did?

Hannah: “Just bad luck, really. She never told me much more about it.”

Background Information about the Performance: The informant lives away from her family now but still practices this superstition that her mother told her. She said that doing so reminds her of home.

Context of Performance: This piece was told in the household of the informant when she was younger.

Thoughts: I have never heard of this superstition before, and the informant noted that it might have just been her mother’s belief. Nevertheless, I enjoyed learning that the piece kept the informant connected in some way to her family, despite living so far away.

 

Nightmarchers

Nationality: Hawaiian
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Kaneohe, HI
Performance Date: 4/19/17
Primary Language: English
Language: Hawaiian, Spanish

Informant: Uluwehi is a 21-year-old student from Hawaiʻi. She is from the island of Oʻahu.

Main Piece:
Uluwehi: “Nightmarchers play drums as they march through through the mountains and along paths as well that they have glowing eyes. They’re supposed to be malicious and they could kidnap you…they’re kind of ghosts of old warriors.”

Interviewer: Is there a way to ward them off?

Uluwehi: “Not really. You just don’t go out at night when you hear them roaming near your house.”

Background Information about the Performance: The informant learned this legend from her family. They live in Hawaiʻi and still practice many of the traditions, and so legends like this are important to her.

Context of Performance: Telling this legend usually occurs around certain times of year, specifically the nights that the Nightmarchers march.

Thoughts: It is interesting to me that there is no real way to ward the Nightmarchers off besides hiding from them. The informant also mentioned that the march would take place on nights related to the gods, so the Nightmarchers are in some way related to these important spiritual nights.