Author Archives: Ricardo Pires

Poutine

Nationality: Canadian
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 04/23/17
Primary Language: French
Language: English

Subject: Culinary

Informant: Phillipe was born in Quebec, Canada and has two sisters and a brother. His family is originally from Quebec, therefore he grew up with french as his native tongue.  He currently studies Finance in California.

Original Script: Poutine is probably the most traditional fast-food like meal in Quebec. It consists of fries and cheese topped with gravy. It is also very affordable, which makes for an excellent late night snack after a long night.

Background information by informant: Although you can find Poutine in many other places in Canada today, the best still remains in Quebec, given that the meal originated there in the first place.

Context of performance: Quick tasty snack when you are in a hurry. Also a go to meal after a night of drinking.

Thoughts: Food is powerful because it can always bring people together. Poutine is a great example of this because it is not limited to any particular social class or group of people. It is a meal which all citizens of Quebec can enjoy and it brings them all together.

Quebec Joke

Nationality: Canadian
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 04/23/17
Primary Language: French
Language: English

Subject: Joke

Informant: Phillipe was born in Quebec, Canada and has two sisters and a brother. His family is originally from Quebec, therefore he grew up with french as his native tongue.  He currently studies Finance in California.
Original Script: Pourquoi les Québécois ne se plaignent jamais? Parce qu’ils n’ont pas une aussi grande gueule que les Français / Why do Quebeckers never complain? Because they have a smaller mouth than the French.

Background information by informant: Traditional joke in Quebec to mock the French.

Thoughts: The joke alludes to the manner in which Quebeckers regard other French speakers, and the French in Particular. The stigma attached to the French is very prevalent in Quebec.

Plantane Plates

Nationality: Ecuadorian
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 04/23/17
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Subject: Culinary

Informant: Daniel is originally from Guayaquil, a city in the coast of Ecuador.  He is an only child and has just received a diploma in Business. He has lived in California for the past four years, but will be returning to Ecuador in the coming month.

Original Script: Unfortunately, the coast of Ecuador suffers from extreme social inequality. However, these circumstances lead the locals to become extremely resourceful with the little they had. One of the few affordable items in Guayaquil is Plantains. Because of this, there are around 100 different plantain based dishes. This gave the locals the opportunity to diversify their culinary while still maintaining affordable prices.

Background information by informant: Each dish tastes uniquely different, and provides such a distinct palette that you cant even believe that they all stem from the same simple ingredient.

Thoughts: The brilliance of a culture comes from the ability to maximize the available resources in order to make a living. In this way, locals from the coast of Ecuador not only succeeded, but also created a wide range of distinct culinary options with the same basic and abundant resource they could find.

King Arthur

Nationality: British
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 04/23/17
Primary Language: English

Subject: Legend

Informant: Michael was born and raised in London. His father is British and his mother is American, hence he was exposed to both cultures growing up. He currently studies Health Promotion in Los Angeles and is the captain of the universities’ rugby team. Michael is also the president of his fraternity at the university.

Original Script: King Arthur was a legendary leader in Britain. He built his powerful sword – Excalibur – from stone and became the chosen king. He surrounded himself with great leaders such as Merlin the magician and Sir Lancelot. He was most famous for his round table, which was considered very anti-religious at the time. He had the round table because he always thought that he was an equal to his advisors. Therefore, he did not want to rule from the top, and instead opted to be a king that listened to those he ruled and cooperated with everyone to become a powerful leader.

Background information by informant: King Arthur was probably one of the most legendary figures in British history and became a prominent part of British culture.

Thoughts: Folklore legends can establish positive ideas into a community and bring them closer to their history and roots.

La Societa dei Magnaccioni

Nationality: Italian
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 04/26/17
Primary Language: Italian
Language: English

Subject: Folk Song

Informant: Guido was born in Rome, Italy in a traditional Italian family. He currently studies business in California and plays rugby for his college team.

Original Script:

Fatece largo che passamo noi,
sti giovanotti de sta Roma bella,
semo regazzi fatti cor pennello,
e le regazze famo innamorà.
e le regazze famo innamorà.
Ma che ce frega, ma che ce importa,
se l’oste ar vino c’ha messo l’acqua,
e noi je dimo, e noi je famo,
c’hai messo l’acqua, e nun te pagamo, ma però,
noi semo quelli, che ja risponnemo n’coro,
è mejo er vino de li Castelli
che de sta zozza società.

Background information by informant: It’s probably the most popular roman folklore song. The song is primarily about the roman youth and its purity and spontaneity in the eyes of society. Additionally, it glamorizes Rome, establishing its superiority over the north of Italy.

Context of performance: We generally sing it in circumstances of victory, such as winning a rugby game against a team from a different city.

Thoughts: It is interesting to see how even within a country, there are different aspects of folklore that individualize certain regions of the country and exclude those outside of that group. This song is even more prominent in Rome because it is written in the specific roman dialect, causing a greater attatchment to the piece of folklore by locals.