Author Archives: Dunai Basrawi

The Story Behind Chinese Valentine’s Day

Nationality: Arab American
Age: 22
Occupation: Law student
Residence: Silver Spring, MD
Performance Date: April 22, 2017
Primary Language: English
Language: Arabic, Turkish

The story is as follows: On the 7th Day of the 7th Lunar Year, two lovers, who can only see each other on that day (once a year), meet through the help of magpie pigeons. The pigeons form a bridge across the skies, heavens, and earth to enable the man and woman to meet and spend the day together in-love. The woman lived in the heavens and the man was a cowherd. They could only meet once a year because the woman’s father, an emperor, did not approve of the relationship. Magpies made it possible for them to meet once a year, a condition that the emperor father agreed to. Legend has it that you don’t see magpies in China on this day because they would be too busy building, or acting, as the bridge between the emperor’s daughter and the cowherd.

Background information: “I heard this story while I was in Beijing. It interested me because I heard the story during the actual Chinese Valentine’s Day itself, and I saw quite a few couples on the streets that day (more so than on Valentine’s Day anywhere else). My Chinese colleagues teased with me and asked if I had a girlfriend to go on a date with in China, and whether or not she was Chinese. It was a fun day with lots of learning and lots of laughs.

“At that day’s evening, my Chinese teacher, named Boya Lin, shared the story with me and my classmates. It was by far one of the most entrancing and beautiful tales I had ever listened to, though it might be thanks to Boya’s great storytelling skills.”

Context: The informant told me this story in a conversation about folklore.

Thoughts: It is interesting to see a story that connects to a legend – two categories of folklore helping to create one piece of folklore. It is a sad, romantic story, one of two lovers who cannot be together all the time due to parental interference. I especially like how it connects itself to the present with the legend about the magpies.

Şeker Bayramı

Nationality: Arab American
Age: 22
Occupation: Law student
Residence: Silver Spring, MD
Performance Date: April 22, 2017
Primary Language: English
Language: Arabic, Turkish

Turkish: Şeker Bayramı (literally, Sugar Holiday, a.k.a. Eid Al-Fitr, following Ramadan)

“Turks deem Eid Al-Fitr as a holiday meant for the distribution of sweets and delights (so do Arabs, but Turks generally take it to larger extents). I’ve experienced 2 days of Şeker Bayramı in İstanbul following a month of fasting for Ramazan/Ramadan. What I remember the most about it was the sheer amount of cotton candy everywhere on Cevdet Paşa street nearby the bosphorus in Istanbul’s Bebek neighborhood. It was a good time to indulge in sweets following the best Ramadan I have ever experienced (so far!).”

Context: The informant told me this in a conversation about folklore.

Thoughts: I have been to many (Arab) Eid celebrations, but the only type of sweets they generally had were dates, chocolate, and Jordan almonds (pastel color coated almonds). It is interesting to see that cotton candy is a big part of the celebration in Turkey, as it is not exactly something I would expect to be a part of Eid, considering that it is not Middle Eastern/Muslim in origin. It is intriguing to see the different desserts of the world they take in to complement the event – a part of globalization, perhaps?

Hagop and Dr. Vartan

Nationality: Armenian
Age: 63
Occupation: Nurse
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 23, 2017
Primary Language: Armenian
Language: Arabic, English

Hague goes to Dr. Vartan.

V: You are such an educated person, why did you go to a witch doctor?

H: I don’t know.

V: What was the stupid thing he advised you to do?

H: Well, he said to come to you.

Background information: This is an Armenian joke. Hague and Vartan are recurring characters in Armenian jokes.

Context: The informant told me this joke in a conversation about folklore.

Thoughts: This is a funny joke, in which one person’s questions backfires on himself and leads to him being insulted to his face. Dr. Vartan wonders why Hague was stupid enough to go to a witch doctor, whose practices Vartan doesn’t believe in (it makes sense – the doctor would obviously think he knows more, since he is formally educated in medical matters). He then asks what was the stupid advice given (since he doesn’t believe in the witch doctor’s powers), and Hague fires back and tells him the stupid advice was to go to Vartan. It is a witty joke, and a clever and inadvertent way to insult someone.

 

Circassian Metaphor

Nationality: Syrian
Age: 40
Performance Date: April 13, 2017
Primary Language: Arabic
Language: English

Someone asked a Circassian Elder, “Which is more important, to love, or to be loved?”

He replied, “Which wing is more important for the bird, the left wing or the right wing?”

Background information: This is a Circassian metaphor, or more broadly, folk speech. The informant heard it from her mother.

Context: The informant told me this metaphor in a conversation about folklore.

Thoughts: This is a nice little metaphor, comparing love and the wings of a bird. It shows how the importance of both loving and being loved goes hand-in-hand. They must coexist, and one is not necessarily more important than the other – they’re both equally important in this life.

The Hakawati

Nationality: Arab American
Age: 22
Occupation: Law student
Residence: Silver Spring, MD
Performance Date: April 22, 2017
Primary Language: English
Language: Arabic, Turkish

“A Hakawati is, simply put, a story teller. What makes Hakawatis different from other story-tellers is that they can share one story over the course of months. Additionally, Hakawatis are chosen by popular demand. If a Hakawati is unpopular, a new one comes in to try to entertain the crowd.

“Hakawatis throughout the Middle East have laid foundations for the stories of the 1001 Arabian Nights. The Arabian Nights stories borrow the story-telling techniques of the Hakawatis. Hakawatis came from all over the world, including Persia, Central Asia, and North Africa. Each region had its own twist to stories, which led to the Arabian Nights stories possessing not only Arabic stories, but also South Asian, Central Asian, Persian, Amazigh, and Turkic stories.

“Hakawati traditions are ancient, and are not ubiquitous today. Rabih Alameddine, my favorite modern Arab author, re-introduced the notion of Hakawatis to contemporary readers. In the book, Hakawatis told thousands of stories in coffee shops, holiday festivals, and even at the end of kite-flying competitions. The Middle East was a very different place back in the day.”

Background information: “I heard about Hakawatis from a Lebanese author, Rabih Alameddine. The stories Hakawatis told have been foundations for great Arabic stories encased in 1001 Arabian Nights. Rabih Alameddine is my favorite modern Arab author.”

Context: The informant told me about this in a conversation about folklore.

Thoughts: It was interesting to learn about a specific type of story teller; I did not know there were actually names for them. I had heard of 1001 Arabian Nights, but have never read it, so it’s interesting to learn about the foundations and inspirations for it. I can’t imagine sharing one story over such a long period of time, so these people must be masterful in their craft, in remembering bits and details and keeping the stories creative and compelling.

For another version of this description, see The Gulf News.