Author Archives: gaetsalo

Guy Fawkes

Folklore:

“Ok so in around the 1580s the King of England was on the throne —I think it was King James— and this man called Guy Fawkes was a protestant who was leading a revolt against the king because treatment of the Catholics. They filled the cellars with gunpowder to destroy the parliament, but they were discovered and caught before they could light the powder. He was hung, drawn, and quartered. They hung him by the neck and cut his chest and stomach. So now, every November 15th, England celebrates the attempted murder of the King with the Guy Fawkes Festival of mainly fireworks to recreate what would have happened. 

Even in France we celebrate Guy Fawkes, there are fireworks all night, and people get together and party. As a kid we would go to the countryside and all of the families would go to this big field and the parents would light a bunch of fireworks. There is food and music and drinking (we French will take any reason to drink haha) and it was one of my favorite celebrations as a kid. When I learned that the man we are celebrating was hung, it was kind of bittersweet. It is a fun day but a sad story”

Context:

CD is a French woman in her early 20s. She was born and raised in Paris (and lives there now) but her family is originally from England. In her family, because of their British roots, Guy Fawkes is one of her family’s main celebrated holidays. Every year, her uncle who grew up in England taught her the history of the holiday.

Analysis:

This Festival is different from traditional folk festivals as, aside from the fact that it happens yearly, it does not commemorate a change of sorts. Instead it is in remembrance of a significant event in the cultures history. It uses symbolism, in this case the fireworks, to represent the revolution and celebrates the cultural ideals and passing on their history.

Homecoming Ritual

Ritual:

“Well this is moreso of just a family thing but in my family, we have a lot of people who either live, work, or study internationally. So when someone comes home it is tradition for them to make the rounds at all of our relatives’ houses —whoever wasn’t able to meet you at the airport— and then someone will make you your favorite traditional food. Honestly it’s kind of annoying, especially if you just finished exams or whatever, but I’ll never complain when it comes to free food. It’s those moments that I think about when I’m away, and I never regret them. The food I normally ask for is these things called “Magwinya” [translated to Fatcakes] which is basically a sweet fried dough treat. You can buy them at the corner shop but my aunt make the best ones and always has them fresh ready for me when I get to her house.”

Context:

KG is a 23 year old man from Botswana, Africa, who is currently studying in Paris, France. It is customary in Botswana culture to heavily cherish and value family and community, and to express that through quality time and food. 

Analysis:

As with Folklore at large, the ritual KG’s family partakes in encourages and fosters community and culture. The emphasis on community is by making sure that people who have been “away from home” for long are somewhat forced to reconnect with their community by visiting relatives face to face and spending time with them. This custom reinforces culture as well, for it is not just any food that is offered to those homecoming, it is traditional food of the culture, to connect them with their past and passing down/over history and knowledge through food and taste.

Lewes Bonfires

Festival:

“The Lewes Bonfire is a really interesting tradition that my uncle also told me about. There is a city called Bristol in England, Lewes is a small town near Bristol. Every year for an entire day everything gets shut down. Even the police, so there are technically no laws for that day, and you cannot enter or leave the town for the entire day. It started because in history, there were protestants murdered by catholics by burning them to death. This made people really mad and so every year they now celebrate the day with a lot of bonfires. It is so big that there are 7 committees just to organize the celebration. During the day there are floats that go through the streets and at night they all get lit in the bonfire. It is really weird because you will just wake up and there is a huge parade and no buses or trains are running.”

Context:

CD is a French woman in her early 20s. She was born and raised in Paris (and lives there now) but her family is originally from England. Many people in Europe know about the Lewes bonfires because it is such a large celebration. It is one of my British uncle’s favorite days. He grew up in England and in his youth he would go to Lewes with his friends solely to experience the celebrations. CD learned the history of this holiday from her uncle.

Analysis: 

This folk festival is cyclical as it happens once yearly. It also exhibits symbolism through the ritual of building and subsequently burning the floats and it represents the appreciation of the protestant religion and their unjust persecution. The festival is very exemplary of the country’s identity as it emphasizes the revolution and political landscape of the culture and people both in the present and in the past.

Boarding School Commencement

Folklore:

“My high school was very old and traditional. We had a lot of rituals and traditions that everyone had to do. One of the first ones was our convocation. From what I’ve heard most other like public schools don’t really do this for high school. It’s kinda more of a college thing but I guess because our school is as old as some of those universities, maybe it’s just like and old timey thing. Anyways, our convocation was like super serious. We had to wear a dress code that they called “special academic dress” which is basically just fancy clothes; suits and dresses etc. And then we lined up alphabetically and paired with a boy, and then every new student walked together to the chapel, kinda herded by the prefects of the dorms. Then in the chapel, we listen to a bunch of speeches by deans of teachers or something, and i think the choir sang. Honestly, some of these details are kinda fuzzy, it was a while ago and to be honest I was not paying the most attention lol. Anyway, I do remember the most important part which is when each student gets up and goes to the front to shake [principle]’s and then sign your name in this giant book. Apparently you’re like not an official student until you do this. Only then can you start your academic journey. “

Context:

AH is a current college student, and attended a New England preparatory boarding school for high school in the late 2010s. 

“Honestly, though looking back it was kinda pretentious, in the moment, it was really cool. We all had worked so hard to get into this school [admission to the school is similar to the college admissions process with various exams, essays, and interviews] so finally getting there and it be treated like a big deal was really nice. Looking back, nothing from high school was really that deep, but in the moment, it really did feel as important as they were making it. It felt like the beginning of something really significant y’know.”

Analysis: 

A tradition such as this is typical in many elite institutions with a long history, though the semantics differ for each school. USC for example has quite a convoluted commencement ceremony that all new students must attend, however you dress in gowns and there is no book signing. Participating in a ritual that has been done by people over and over again for years before you, is quite a unique experience. To share an experience with people across time in a similar situation as you is quintessential folklore. In this context, it connects you to the people in the past that are a part of this culture which you are now entering. This is typical of most folk festivals which often aim to commemorate events of a cyclical nature, in this case the cycle of life. This commencement celebrates the students entering into a new stage of their academic career and changes their identity from children in lower education to teenagers entering the first stage of their actionable future which will lead to college and jobs. 

Rival Bonfire

festival:

“A festival that I loved at [boarding school] was our bonfire night. It was so weird though because our grade had the absolute worst luck. For 3 out of the 4 years of high school, we weren’t able to do it. The first two years it was raining on the day the bonfire was scheduled, then we finally got to do it junior year, but then senior year COVID cancelled it. But the one year we were able to do it was really fun!

Essentially, the bonfire happens after the pep rally the night before our [rival school]’s Day, which is basically our biggest sports event of the year where we spend the entire day just doing fall sports against our rival school. Their mascot is literally a door. Which is so goofy, like they are just asking to be made fun of. Anyways, during the pep rally, our mascot breaks down the door painted in their colors, and then afterwards we all go outside and light fire to the wood from the door. Its really fun, there was music, hot chocolate, we roasted marshmallows and made s’mores. And curfew was extended which is always a plus.”

Context:

AH is a current college student, and attended a new england preparatory boarding school for high school. 

“Well, I first heard about it from all of the older students freshman year leading up to what was supposed to be our first bonfire night. They all just said it was so much fun.

To me, it’s really just about school spirit and community. That entire week there are events going on that are super fun, which just encourage us to really like the school (which is sometimes hard when you’re constantly on the grind) and just get us in the mind set for the sports day.”

Analysis:

This is a celebration of community. It is a cyclical folk festival as it happens once a year in the Fall athletic season. It is really interesting to see miscellaneous events such as these at schools because they don’t have much to do with education, and instead are solely focused on interpersonal life and relationships. This event is also essentially a celebration of the athletes in the community, and their accomplishments. It is a notable pattern that many communities, regardless of original or main intent, always resort to celebration of athleticism. At jobs there are often recreational sports leagues and even countries play sports against each other. All typically culminating, with celebration. This is a phenomenon of folk all around the world, and it is interesting to see it on even such a small scale as an academic institution with a supposed focus on education.