Author Archives: Quinn Blades

Tigers and Crying Babies

Nationality: Korean
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: South Korea
Performance Date: 4/25/17
Primary Language: English
Language: Korean, Viatnemese

The interview will be depicted by initials. The Interviewer is QB and the interview is SH.

QB: Do you know of any folklore that your family told you?

SH: Yes I do!

QB: Alright what is that?

SH: There was this story that my mom used to tell me all the time that, um, about a tiger who is looking for this boy. The tiger, like, goes through and finds this boy, and the story is about is about this tiger hearing this boy cry. So the tiger goes to the house to check on the boy and the thing that shuts him up is his mom saying, “If you keep crying then the tiger will come after you.” And then she feeds him sweet rice cakes and then he doesn’t cry anymore. But I don’t remember the entire story right now. But its actually really good.

Analysis: Even though the student did not remember the entire story, it is evident that the story still had a deep impact on them. The student mentioned that the story was told many years ago to them as a young child and the story was still very enjoyable by them. However, it is difficult to decipher the moral of the story or what it was for. Perhaps it was for the particular rice cakes the mother was feeding the child or a lesson of being a good child so that tigers would not find you and you would be rewarded with sweet rice cakes.

Family of Clairvoyants

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: California
Performance Date: 4/25/17
Primary Language: English

The interview will be depicted by initials. The Interviewer is QB and the interview is RT.

QB: What was this interesting thing about your family?

RT: Ok…so every first born of every third generation in my family is born with psychic abilities. And they vary depending upon random factors, so we have ones that are clairvoyant and ones that can sense past events at random places. So my grandmother was the last one in the family lineage because it’ll be my older brothers first born who is the next one, but she was in the house that my mother spent part of her high school time growing up in and she got up to go use the bathroom in the middle of the night and saw this old woman in a rocking chair in their spare room. And she got up and my grandmother followed her down the hall to the top of the stairs, and this old woman pushed her down the stairs. And then ,after that, things got more and more intense. Not in just that house, but her visions in general.

Analysis: Apart from the interesting ghost story told by the student’s grandmother, it is also interesting to note that the student seems to believe the continuation of this gift within the family lineage. Even with the dark tales that the student’s grandmother went through, the student still expects their older brothers child to have this psychic ability. It is also interesting that the family has these powers on a scale. Perhaps it is a better way for them to group the random happenings into one understandable statement.

La Llorona

Nationality: Spanish American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: California
Performance Date: 4/25/17
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

The interview will be depicted by initials. The Interviewer is QB and the interview is AM.

QB: So do you have any folklore stories that you learned while you were younger?

AM: Yeah. So I’m from Mexico and we have this story called La Llorona, which means “The Crier, and basically the tales goes…there’s this lady who had some children and she was like crazy. And so she got them…she put them all in her car and she drove into the lake and they all died so she regretted it. And now legend says she…like…walks around with this crazy wet hair and cries out for her children because she wants to find them and say sorry.

Analysis: Compared to the many “La Llorona” stories studied within the ANTH 333 class, this one differs due to the fact that it is more focused on La Llorona herself. The student never mentioned the fact that children would be taken in the night, but was only told the story at face value and only believes that their is a lady looking for her children. It is interesting to note that the story is still told for children to fear, but not for being taken.

Hat on a Bed

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: California
Performance Date: 4/25/17
Primary Language: English

The interview will be depicted by initials. The Interviewer is QB and the interview is BL.

QB: Were there any other superstitions that your dad or family followed?

BL: Yeah there was one more, and basically it was that it was very unlucky to put your hat on top of the bed. I honestly have no idea why that was considered bad luck, but my dad just made it a point to teach everyone not to do it. So yeah…I never put my hat on my bed.

Analysis: Once again I think it is interesting just how much superstition can effect a person. Even though the student had no understanding of why placing a hat on the bed was unlucky, they still made a point to follow the rule. Following the family rules are also very prevalent here.

Horseshoe in the Garage

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: California
Performance Date: 4/25/17
Primary Language: English

The interview will be depicted by initials. The Interviewer is QB and the interview is BL.

QB: What was this story you were telling everyone?

 

BL: So my dad had a horseshoe in the garage for many many years and he was told by multiple people that because his horseshoe was facing downwards that his luck was spilling out of the horseshoe, and so he needed to turn it upwards so his luck would be filled within the horseshoe.

Analysis: Even though this was not the students direct lucky charm, it still had a profound effect on the student themselves. The horseshoe effected the entire family’s luck and now the horseshoe is filled completely up with the family’s luck. I think it shows how just owning the lucky charm can effect how a person feels about their luck.