Author Archives: kalu@usc.edu

Dime House (A Ghost Story).

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Flemington, New Jersey.
Performance Date: 4/22/18
Primary Language: English
Language: N/A

Michael Gordon, a junior studying Pop Music at the University of Southern California, who hails from Flemington, New Jersey, provided four pieces of folklore for this collection.

The interview was run, within his studio, at Orchard Avenue, on the outskirts of the University of Southern California.

Folk-Type: Legend.

Folk Performance: Dime House (A Ghost Story).

“Any Ghost Stories or weird happenings in Jersey?” – Stanley Kalu

STORY: I lived by a house and it was like, they called it the Dime House and there’s like a couple of ghost stories or like ghost books and the Dime House was in it and I lived right by it and apparently, no one has inhabited the place for 10 years but when you’d go inside they’d be this ghost that would lay dimes everywhere. And, if you touch one you’d get, like, really bad luck. My friend went in it and there were a bunch of dimes everywhere. It was pretty crazy.

Background Information: Michael heard about this through his friends. He likes it because it’s apart of his local identity.

Context of Performance: Teenagers will enter the space and check if there are actually dimes in there.

Thoughts: I wonder if people place dimes in the dime-house in order to keep the legend going.

 

 

“So, It’s like you’ve grown wings, oshe” (a Nigerian Saying)

Nationality: Nigerian
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Abuja, Nigeria.
Performance Date: 4/22/18
Primary Language: English
Language: N/A

Michael Iluma, a senior studying International Relations and Acting at the University of Southern California, who hails from Abuja, Nigeria, provided two pieces of folklore for this collection.

The interview was run, within his bedroom, on West 30th Street in the outskirts of the University of Southern California campus.

Folk Performance: “So, It’s like you’ve grown wings, oshe” (a Nigerian Saying)

Folk Type: Folk-Speech.

“What about Nigerian parents, man they’re always saying the wildest things.” – Stanley Kalu

STORY: truuueeee. So, like, another thing too, is like when you’re at home and let’s say that you’re not being very—I guess whether you’ve been misbehaving at home and your mom or your dad will be like “Oh, so it’s like you’ve grown wings, oshe” which is like “oh, you think you can fly” or you’re like above what they’re trying to tell you or ask you to do. And then, like, what they end up saying is “ohhh, we’ll chop those wings.” Which is like, we’re gonna bring you down to our level which is a way of reminding you that they are your parents.

Background Information: The statement historically refers to poultry. Historically, Nigeria is an agrarian nation and, as such, many common sayings refer back to farming. Often times, a growing chicken will flap their wings and become aggressive. To counteract this, Nigerians will often clip the wings of their chickens.

Michael enjoys this statement because, as apart of the Nigerian Diaspora, he is currently displaced. The reenactment of statements of this sort remind him of home and provide an initial common, vernacular ground between himself and other members of the Nigerian Diaspora.

Context of performance: Michael performed this act, as many Nigerian children do, in an accent-heavy impression of his father. The Father, in Nigerian culture, is often the disciplinarian.

Thoughts: Nigeria, like most places around the world, is a culture that not only accepts, but also actively encourages beating children as a form of disciplinary action. My initial thought, despite the Abrahamic religious link that legitimizes such an action, is whether this attitude is derived from an agrarian perspective. If you beat an animal and it behaves, or in the case of poultry cut off it’s wings, then perhaps it’ll be the same for children.

 

 

 

 

The Gray Man (A Ghost Story).

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Charleston, South Carolina.
Performance Date: 4/10/18
Primary Language: English
Language: N/A

Owen Lord, a sophomore studying anthropology at the University of Southern California, who hails from Charleston, South Carolina, provided two pieces of folklore for this collection.

The interview was run, amidst dinner and drinks, at the University of Southern California located Greenleaf, a popular post-class bar for many students at the prestigious institution.

Folk Type: Legend.

“Tell me a scary story Owen, I want chills!” – Stanley Kalu

STORY: um, when it was thundering outside my grandma would tell us that the Gray Man was rattling his chains. The Gray Man was this kind of ghostly figure that haunted the beaches in South Carolina. I assume she told us that because she didn’t want us to go outside but it didn’t really seem like that was why. She seemed to just love getting us scared.

Background Information: The Gray Man, according to legend, is a ghost situated on Pawleys Island, South Carolina that appears before storms and hurricanes. The first recorded sighting of the ghost was in 1822, which predates the towns’ official formation. The Gray Man is said to be the ghost of a man on his way to visit his fiancée. He was then caught in a terrible storm and died. He now roams the beach, searching for his lost lover.

Context of Performance: As Owen mentioned, his grandmother would tell the story of the Gray Man in part to keep her grandchildren safe and indoors and, in part, for her own entertainment.

The context of Owen’s rehashing of the tale was done after our “Forms of Folklore” class taught by Tok Thompson because the both of us had a folklore collection project due.

Thoughts: I find it interesting that the ghost story tradition often uses heartbreak/lost love archetype to describe the un-dead. I suppose it reflects our societies obsession with love and, perhaps more so, the lack of it. Is a life without a partner akin to death? I’m also interested in The Gray Man’s practical function of appearing before storm. This seems to invert the tradition of a ghost being a haunting, menacing nuisance and turns it into something that actually serves the community.

Frog Went A-Courtin (English Language Folk Song.)

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Charleston, South Carolina.
Performance Date: 4/10/18
Primary Language: English
Language: N/A

Owen Lord, a sophomore studying anthropology at the University of Southern California, who hails from Charleston, South Carolina, provided two pieces of folklore for this collection.

The interview was run, amidst dinner and drinks, at the University of Southern California located Greenleaf, a popular post-class bar for many students at the prestigious institution.

Folk Type: Folk Music.

“Tell about your childhood in North Carolina, were there any stories, songs, or proverbs that your parents would tell you growing up?” – Stanley Kalu

STORY: Hmm, lemme think, lemme think. Um…, wait okay so when I was a young lad, my mom used to bounce me on her knee and sing “froggie went a courtin’ and he did ride, he did ride.” I don’t really remember the rest but she would always sing that and I remember my first baby-sitter, um, wouldn’t do it and I was mad but I also understood. It’s kinda really awkward to bounce another person’s child on your lap. I remember being very conflicted.

Background Information: Owen, as aforementioned in the story section, learned this folk-song from his mother. The attachment he has to it is a nostalgic one, deriving from a place of comfort between he and his mother. The song was learned in Charleston, South Carolina.

The song itself, first appeared in Wedderburn’s Complaynt of Scotland (1548) under the name “The Frog cam to the Myl dur.” The earliest musical version of the tune is said to be in Thomas Ravenscroft’s Melismata  (1611).

It is noted that the original version of the song referred to Francois, Duke of Anjou attempts to woo Elizabeth I of England. This would make some historical sense, due to the fact that Elizabeth nicknamed Anjou, her favorite suitor, “the frog.”

Context of Performance: Owen’s Mother would perform the song in order to get him to sleep. This recontextualizes the song, at least in this instance, into a lullaby.

The context of Owen’s rehashing of the tale was done after our “Forms of Folklore” class taught by Tok Thompson because the both of us had a folklore collection project due.

Thoughts: I’m particularly interested in the way folklore changes over time. the original version of the song was, in a sense, political satire about an over eager lover. The irony of said song being sung to child is both hilarious and baffling. It also forces me to reflect upon angry rap songs about Donald Trump. Once they lose their political context, will they be sung to toddlers?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Thunder Fire You” (A Nigerian Phrase).

Nationality: Nigerian
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Abuja, Nigeria.
Performance Date: 4/22/18
Primary Language: English
Language: N/A

Michael Iluma, a senior studying International Relations and Acting at the University of Southern California, who hails from Abuja, Nigeria, provided two pieces of folklore for this collection.

The interview was run, within his bedroom, on West 30th Street in the outskirts of the University of Southern California campus.

Folk-Type: Folk-Speech.

Folk Performance: “Thunder Fire You” (A Nigerian Phrase).

“Because we’re both Nigerian, we understand that there is a saying for just about everything…” – Stanley Kalu

STORY: Yes…so something we say at, let’s say like we’re talking and let’s say my friend says something to, like, come at me, you know, diss me—disrespect me—I’ll be like “Thunder fire you,” which has a religious sentiment to it but also, like, you know, God strike you down and strike down what you’re saying.

Background Information: The statements religious leanings are representative of Nigeria’s mixed heritage as a nation deeply steeped in both Vudun and the Abrahamic religions of Islam and Christianity. Each religious culture places high value on the power of the spoken word, therefore, it becomes imperative to counter-act words with words.

Michael enjoys this statement because, as apart of the Nigerian Diaspora, he is currently displaced. The reenactment of statements of this sort remind him of home and provide an initial common, vernacular ground between himself and other members of the Nigerian Diaspora.

Context of performance: As aforementioned, the term is usually employed only as a reaction against disrespect.

Thoughts: The phrase, to me, has a natural link to the Abrahamic “eye for and eye, tooth for a tooth” philosophy or, in more colloquial American terms, “fight fire with fire.” It’s interesting to notice similarities within rather disparate cultures. My initial thought would be that such crossover would exist simply because we live in an increasingly globalized world but that wouldn’t make sense historically. I suppose, such similarities suggest that there’s a fundamental human attitudes that occur across cultures.