Author Archives: Baldur Tangvald

Walking in Circles

Nationality: Pakistani/Indian/American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Francisco, California
Performance Date: April 2012
Primary Language: English

Walking in Circles

Superstition

 

When I was pacing and talking, my informant told me to stop walking in a circle and warned me of a superstition his parents follow: “never walk in circles.” He explained that both of his parents believe in this superstition, and they told him it comes from an ancient tale. Although my informant couldn’t remember exactly, he said, “if you walk around in a circle multiple times, you die because apparently this happened a long time ago in which a devil cursed someone by walking around them, and that person suffered a slow painful death.”

My informant went on to explain that if someone walks in a circle, the same fate will befall them. When asked for further detail, he claimed he remembered that clockwise direction was considered worse than counterclockwise direction. He then provided a preventative measure, informing me that his parents said if someone walked in the opposite direction they could undo the effect.

 

Though my informant does not believe in this superstition, when he sees people walking in circles, it reminds him of his parents and the story, connecting him to his heritage. Since both of his parents are Muslim, but one is from Pakistan, the other is from India, my informant believes that the superstition comes from Islam, and is not related to their nationalities.

 

The superstition could have real-world implications: preventing people from running around in circles may decrease the risk of twisting an ankle, or would discourage children from running wild and causing a ruckus.  Symbolically, the superstition also relates to the passage of time, which reinforces the theme of death:  clockwise circles are associated with time moving forward (because of the direction of sundials and clocks). Thus, walking around in a circle clockwise is an act of symbolically speeding up your own life, bringing death quickly.  This is an example of homeopathic magic and preventative magic.

Streaking through School Assembly

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Chatham, New Jersey
Performance Date: April 2012
Primary Language: English

Streaking

Unofficial tradition/Practical Joke

 

My informant described a unofficial tradition in a school when talking about pranks. The following is a transcript of our interview:

“During the assembly before Christmas – the SAC  (student activities committee, which is basically an amateur SNL) Christmas assembly, there is always a streaker. We do the assembly, unlike the others, in the main common area for the school because it’s a big area, and the area we use for a stage is where the Senior couches are, and there is basically a huge window out to the backside of the school where there is a field. So people while we do the assembly, people  — because this is always in the dead of winter and there is snow on the ground – so people go streaking and wear masks of some variety, doing something funny. People don’t always get totally naked. No one last year got naked, but when you’re in a speedo in freezing weather its really cold and still funny.

 

To my informant, “it’s a tradition, and every year the administration says NO ONE CAN STREAK THIS YEAR, but every year people do it. It is a demonstration of student power versus the administration.”

 

Not only are students demonstrating their own power by disregarding the administrations threats, they also interrupt a mandatory event planned by the school. Thus, the students are demonstrating that they are also not under the control of the administration by ignoring the “mandatory” nature of the gathering, and they insult the administration by making a mockery of their gathering. Moreover, the streakers break school rules by disregarding the dresscode. The masks students wear protect them from getting into trouble, but also provide an extra element of comedy to the scene. Though breaking school rules is a key component to the tradition, the other part is comedy: the daring acts of defiance are also aimed to entertain fellow students.

One-Testicled Basketball Coach

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: April 2012
Primary Language: English

Basketball Coach

Legend/Joke

 

My informant told me a story about the basketball coach at his school:

 

“We had this really mean basketball coach, who would often get angry at students for messing around. He would get all angry and red and would scream at the kids when they acted out of order. The funny thing was, though, that his voice would go really high when he yelled. People thought it was really funny, so it was hard to take him seriously. They would say that he, during a practice, wasn’t watching and got hit in the nuts with a basketball, so he lost a testicle and thats why his voice is so high and he’s so angry all the time — compensating for the missing testicle.”

My informant enjoyed the story and said people brought it up  with their friends whenever the coach got mad at them.

The story is a means of undermining the seriousness of the Coach’s anger, belittling the Coach and empowering the students to battle the coach’s authoritative yelling. Making fun of the coach for having only one testicle, students call him less of a man, using comedy to feel less intimidated by his shouting.

 

Persian Dance Contest

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: student
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: April 2012
Primary Language: English
Language: hebrew

 

Persian Dance Contest

Holiday/Tradition

 

As part of the Persian New Year, my informant’s Jewish school held a Persian Dance Contest. My informant described it in the following transcript of our interview:

 

“Every year during the Persian New Year, a holiday which honors the Jews of Persia, we have a Persian dance contest. Any student, pretty much everybody, would take part in these dances. The winners got prizes, like gift cards. Judges were usually parents that were from Persia. Everybody loved the holiday: dancing felt silly and fun, and it was a good break from the usual school day.”

The Persian Dance contest links all of the students to a heritage only 40% have. Sharing the dances and emphasizing the authenticity (through the “actual” Persian judges”), the students become involved in a different culture and identity, raising awareness of other cultures and solidifying the group as a whole.

Purim Skits

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: April 2012
Primary Language: English

Purim Skits & Videos

Tradition/Holiday

 

My informant goes to a Jewish school with 40% Persian Jews, so holidays celebrating Persian Jews are commonplace. One, called Puram, involves making skits.

 

My informant explained, “purim Celebrates the Persian Jews, and traditional has something to do with writing plays or parodies to commemorate the Jews of Persia. I’m not exactly sure how that started, but  nowadays we commemorate the day by doing something along those lines. Every year, in school, groups of students would make videos that made fun of the teachers. The teachers would do the same, theirs taking form of a fake news report (mocking the weekly student news videos).

 

My informant said, “Everybody loved this day, because it was fun to tell the teachers what we didn’t like about them in a not so mean way. The videos were usually very funny, and everybody got excited to see them since the whole school gathered to watch them together.

 

 

These videos are way for students to air their grievances, empowering an otherwise disempowered group. Also, this event brings together the community and reinforces their identities as students or faculty. Most importantly, this is a way for students to criticize the school, but have a good time while doing it.