Category Archives: Folk Beliefs

Folk Tradition

Nationality: Caucasian
Age: 28
Occupation: Teacher
Residence: San Jose, CA
Performance Date: April 30, 2008
Primary Language: English

Don’t Step on the B

Dmitri is a teacher at Bellarmine College Preparatory and an alumnus of the class of 1998. While we are both very familiar with the tradition surrounding the “B” I interviewed trying to see if he could offer any more insight. The “B” is a blue and white tile art piece located in Leo J. Lucas Quad of the campus. The tradition at school is that no student should ever step on the B out of respect. The “B” is visible in the bottom right corner of the picture above. The guardians of the “B” are a group of senior friends who sit on the stone bench at break and lunch protecting the “B”. Dmitri feels the “B” is just another unique part of the campus which makes our school so great. He is particularly fond of the “B” as his office window looks just outside where the “B” is located. This school has a long tradition of school pride and in a way it is reflected in the way the “B” is treated. The “B” has been there for as long as Dmitri could remember. He does not recall how this tradition got started but it has been alive and well for many years.

Dmitri went on to say that the pride of the school has always been something special to him and he is glad that the “B” is treated with such respect. Bellarmine is a proud institution that has been around for over 150 years and is respected by people throughout the bay area, California and the country for our achievement in academics, athletics, speech and debate and robotics. The pride and passion we have for our school is displayed in the fact that we respect our campus and a prime example of this would be the tradition of not stepping on the “B”.

I also have a particular inclination toward the “B” because my senior year my friends and I would serve as the guardians of the “B”. If any unknowing freshmen would step on the “B” we would be quick to yell at them and reprimand and remind them never to do it again. There are no consequences such as bad luck for seven years that you might find in other superstitions but it is still highly discouraged. I feel this piece is also an example of occupational folklore. Those that are upperclassmen know already of the tradition, the freshmen are ignorant to this ritual. So, even if it takes them being yelled at us to not step on the “B” after learning this they become a part of the group because they know the traditions involved with the school.

Charm – Turkish

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Nationality: Turkish
Age: 23
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Diego, California
Performance Date: April 26, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Turkish

Nazar Bonjuk is a Turkish good-luck “evil eye” charm.

The “evil eye” superstition is on the basis that one person can put a spell on someone else. The evil eye was started by Anatolian to prevent the spells, and these evil eyes were placed in homes, near doorways, on people’s handbags or clothing to watch over the person for safety. The evil eyes today are most common to be found in a blue glass with an inner circle in white with an eye on top of the white inner circle.

Robert is Turkish and although his main residence is in the United States he has spent a large portion of his life in Turkey.  He first learned this superstition as a young child because many people still have the “evil eye” in their homes.  This is particularly interesting when looking at it from an American stand point because we do not have very many superstitions that are still taken as seriously.

When I researched Anatolian, it found it to be defined as region surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, the black sea, and the Aegean Sea.  This is mainly associated with Turkish and Greek Culture.

I find Nazar Bonjuk to be a sort of oxymoron.  The term evil eye is usually associated with something bad, but in this case it is a good luck charm.  I interpret this to mean that you are turning the evil eye on others in order to keep away bad fortune and spells.  This brings up another interesting fact that the Turkish have a belief in spells, which you rarely see in America.  Turkey is a very modern place today and many of the people do not admitted believe in charms and spells.  But, the fact that people still keep Nazar Bonjuk in their homes shows that there is still some sort of residual belief and respect for the tradition.

Travel Charm – Turkish

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Nationality: Turkish
Age: 23
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Diego, California
Performance Date: April 26, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Turkish

When someone is leaving on a journey, a customary tradition is to throw water on the back of the car as it is leaving or behind the car as it leaves. The reason behind this is to wish for your travels to move as smoothly as water flows. When the person is leaving the way you say bye is to say “?yi yolculuklar” which directly translates to Good Journey/Travels. The meaning though is “Have a good journey/trip/travel”

Although Robert is from America, he has spent a lot of time in Turkey because most of his family resides there.  He does not know the specific time he learned traditions such as this one, he generally acquired knowledge of them as he grew up and spent more time in Turkey.  People across Turkey still practice this tradition on a regular basis.

Iyi yolculuklar is a very universal, polite phrase.  As far as I am aware, most people wish others a good trip when they are leaving on a journey.  The odd part to me was throwing water on the back of the car.  When I talked to Robert further he did not really know the significance of this, it was something they just do.  I assume the water had some significance at some point.  My speculation would be that it was some sort of sign of good luck that you were throwing towards them as they headed off on their journey.  It could also represent something bad, since you are throwing the water behind the car, it could be symbolic of leaving the bad behind.

Traditions like this are one way a showing an identity.  If you did this some where other than Turkey, people would probably have no idea of what you were doing.  Even people who study the Turkey may not be aware of this tradition because they have not been immersed in the culture.   This is becoming less of a problem though with the internet.  People can find traditions such as these either described or videoed on the internet, so they can maintain this knowledge without ever having to experience the Turkish culture first hand.

Omen – San Francisco

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Nationality: English
Age: 60
Occupation: Teacher
Residence: Long Beach, California
Performance Date: April 22, 2008
Primary Language: English

It looks like earthquake weather today.

This is a phrase that Charlene’s grandmother used to say to her some mornings when the weather looked a certain way.  Charlene grew up in the city of San Francisco, as did many f her relatives before her, including her grandmother.  In 1906 there was a huge earthquake in San Francisco, which caused a huge fire that destroyed most of the city.  Charlene’s grandmother was living in San Francisco at the time.  She remembered that the weather was very grey and muggy that day.  So, every time the weather was similar, she would say it looks like earthquake weather today.

Charlene said it would scare her because she knew exactly what that meant.  Since Charlene had grown up in San Francisco she knew all about the earthquake, plus she had heard all of the stories that her grandmother had told her.  The phrase relates to two different identities.  The fact that her grandmother would say it and Charlene knew exactly what she was talking about, identified both a residents of San Francisco.  They were both well aware of the history of the earthquake in the city.  The fact that her grandmother was able sense earthquake weather showed identified her as part of the group of people who had lived through the 1906 earthquake.

When Charlene described the weather she said it was very muggy and foggy.  I have spent a lot of time in San Francisco and it is muggy and foggy most days.  But, Charlene said that it was a very specific type of weather that only people like her grandma could recognize.  It seems quite difficult to distinguish between one foggy day and another, but Charlene said that one of the days that her grandmother said, “it looks like earthquake weather today,” there was an earthquake.

Joke

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Nationality: Hispanic
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 26, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Derek: What’s the most confusing day in Harlem?

Me: I don’t know, what day?

Derek: Father’s Day

Derek told me this joke but before doing so he gave a disclaimer warning me it was racist and that he learned the joke from a friend here at USC.  Folklore in the form of jokes can reveal a great deal about a culture because knowing what a culture thinks is funny helps one better understand a particular culture.  In a way jokes are a significant window into a specific culture.  If you look at jokes in a Freudian way it can be said that jokes offer an outlet for people to express or explore things that are not normally or socially acceptable to talk about such as aggression, sexuality, stereotypes, etc.  This joke in particular is a racist joke based on stereotypes.  It is implying that black people have many illegitimate children, or children out of wedlock.  This is implied through the joke, because having an illegitimate child or being one could make a holiday like Father’s Day confusing if you did not know who your father because he is not married to your mother.  Also, the joke set in Harlem, which is a predominantly black neighborhood.  The telling of these types of jokes are pretty common and popular which could be because it does express something that is in a way “forbidden” or at least not acceptable to talk casually about in the real world such as racial stereotypes.  But like Derek, most people give a disclaimer before or after the telling of the joke saying that the joke is not theirs, but they heard it from a friend or a friend of a friend (FOAF).  This is suppose to excuse them from the fact that they are telling an offensive joke but they should not be held accountable for it because it is not their joke and they are therefore not racist.  In a way these types of jokes could be seen as an anti-authority lash back because we are constantly being taught and told that you cannot judge people based on their race or assume something about a person based on racial stereotypes.