Category Archives: Game

Childhood Playground Game

Nationality: Scottish; American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Oak Park, CA, USA
Performance Date: April 20, 2011
Primary Language: English

The following is a description of a childhood gamed played by one of my classmates: “I went to a predominantly white elementary school. We did a lot of hand games during lunch and recesses, a lot of rhyming type games and hand clapping, that sort of thing. In the middle of one of the hand clapping games, you take your finger and make your eyes squint by pulling the skin around your eyes up or down…the point is to, and this really sounds bad, but to appear Chinese or Japanese.  Up is Chinese, and down is Japanese. So, during the game, you say ‘Chinese, Japanese, Chinese, Japanese…’ changing your eyes with each…so as you say ‘Chinese’ you squint up, and as you say ‘Japanese’ you squint down. It’s about children exploring basically what they can get away with in a fun, subconscious way. At the time I played it was just fun and funny to make ourselves look like another ethnicity. But now I see the larger meanings with childhood, boundary exploration, and identity development.”

I agree with the analysis and the larger associations and meaning inherent in the game. It is like most, if not all, of children’s games. They explore boundaries while speaking to what may not be acceptable by employing what agency they do have. A game of this manner is perfect for exploring identity and indirectly discussing what makes “us” different from “them.” It is but one more example of the child’s way of coping with the authoritarian world and transitioning into a time of exploration and curiosity.

King’s Cup

Nationality: White
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Diego, CA
Performance Date: 4/14/11
Primary Language: English

King’s Cup-Drinking Game

“You put a cup in the middle of the table filled with Baijiu (white rice liquor). And ring the cards around the cup face down.  Each person has a beer.  Each person goes around in a circle

Ace- “Waterfall”- it means that one person starts drinking and then the next person starts drink and so on.  But you can only stop when the person in front of you stops.

2- “You”- point to someone and they have to drink

3- “Me” – the person who draws the card has to drink

4- “Whore”- the girls have to drink

5- “Never have I ever”- each persons says something they have never done, and if you have done it you have you put a figure down, and the first person to put all five fingers down has to drink

6- “Dicks”- Guys have to drink

7- “Heaven”- the last person to point to the sky has to drink

8- “Mate”- you chose someone who also has to drink with you

9- “Busta Rhymthe” – you have to go around in the circle rhyming and the person who stops the rhyme has to drink

10- “Categories”- the person chooses a theme and each person has to say an item within that category, and who ever cannot think of one has to drink

Jack- “Make a Rule” – the person has to make a rule and everyone has to follow it and if they don’t you have to drink

Queen- “Questions”- you can only speak to each other in questions, and if you answer you have to drink

King- you have to add to the drink in the middle, but if you pull the last King you have to drink the King’s Cup in the middle

And if you break the circle you have to take a shot.”

The informant played this game while studying abroad in China.  She says the reason why they played this game was to drink and have fun.  She learned it from other Americans studying abroad.  She says that is a fun way to pre-game before going out or if just a bunch of friends are hanging out.

This game is reminiscent of American college party culture although there is a Chinese twist, as the King’s Cup is filled with rice liquor.  The purpose of the game is to get the participants drunk because every time someone picks up a card at least one person has to drink.  The idea of having the cards in a circle is a reoccurring theme in folklore; as the circle is a representation of time.  And once the circle is broken the participant must drink – and not a sip of beer but a shot of hard alcohol – as if breaking this circle is breaking something important so the punishment is greater.  The loser of this game has to drink the King’s Cup in the middle when they pull the last King from the deck.  This is contrary to popular belief that getting something called the “King’s Cup” would be a good thing.  The game allows for folk games within a folk game.  For instance, when you draw a 5 you all play the game “Never Have I Ever” which is a folk game in itself.  Also the symbol of a “King’s Cup” may have come from the Holy Grail, which was the cup that Jesus used during the Last Supper.  And thus the “King’s Cup” is a very important relic, and the game “King’s Cup”

This game is an example of how college students employ folklore in their lives on a daily (well hopefully not every day) basis.

Childhood Game – Bloody Mary

Nationality: American
Age: 13
Occupation: Student
Residence: Three Rivers, CA, USA
Performance Date: April 22, 2011
Primary Language: English

My little sister, who is almost 14 years old and in the eighth grade, told me her version of the Bloody Mary game and legend. Her story is as follows: “I first heard about Bloody Mary when I was in like sixth grade, or maybe last year…anyway…some older girls were volunteering in the class and told us that if you go in the bathroom, turn the lights off, spin around clockwise three times while saying ‘Bloody Mary,’ and then look in the mirror, she will appear and kill you. It’s kind of like a dare for someone…but only girls, I don’t think guys have ever done it…and there is a story to go with it. Bloody Mary was a girl who was killed in a bathroom, and now she tries to get revenge and waits for someone to call her name…but I wouldn’t do it, well I kinda did, but didn’t spin around all three time…it’s CREEPY!”

While there are numerous variations, the fundamental idea is that a young girl looks into a mirror and says whomever’s name (usually a Mary) for x amount of times, and they will appear in the mirror. The Bloody Mary game derives from a legend with the motif E 332.3.3.1, about a woman named Mary Worth/Whales who disappears and leaves a spot of blood (Dundes 1998). While my sister is probably right in that it is creepy and just a fun game similar to cemetery excursions or haunted house break-ins at midnight, there is another aspect entirely. It is that of coping with the life cycle, the transition from childhood to reproductive ability. The clockwise spinning symbolizes moving ahead in time, going forward into the future, and the “bloody” woman seen in the mirror is a reflection of the girl’s self in this future and her menstrual cycle. This explains why only girls, typically, play the game, as well as the ages during which it is played/performed. It becomes an unconscious way of speaking to and addressing that which may not be comfortably discussed in a public context, yet is a critical time in a young girl’s development. Alan Dundes produced a great book on the topic, calling the ritual one of “pre-pubescent anxiety.” The following is the source:

Dundes, Alan. “Bloody Mary in the Mirror: A Ritual Reflection of Pre-Pubescent Anxiety.” Western Folklore 57, no. 2 (1998): 119-135.

Jack of Diamonds

Nationality: Caucasian
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Diego, Ca
Performance Date: 4/23/11
Primary Language: English

“My siblings, cousins, and I have been playing Hearts for years.  I’ve always played with the Jack of Diamonds.  It’s kind of a rule, I guess, that my family has passed down from generation to generation.  It’s like the opposite of the Queen of Spades.  Instead of getting thirteen points, if you get the Jack of Diamonds you get minus eleven points. Cause you know in Hearts you don’t want points. It makes playing the game for longer, funner.”

The informant said that he grew up in a very big family who loved to play card games.  He recounts playing Hearts with other people and being so excited to get the Jack of Diamonds.  Those he was with did not understand his excitement as they just viewed the Jack of Diamonds as another card.  This specific folk game is played with the informant’s family.  Outside this context would not make sense to the other participants.  The informant says they add the Jack of Diamonds to the game because “it’s a fun addition and a game changer”.  The card allows for a second chance.  He prefers to play Hearts with the Jack of Diamond rule.

The addition of the Jack of Diamonds to the game of Hearts provides the players with a card to keep them from being the “biggest loser” and provides a clear winner.  Often when the game is played more than one person can earn zero points while a few of the other people will have points based on if they have Hearts or the Queen of Spades.   American society is a winning-driven culture.  Without the Jack of Diamonds more than one winner is very possible, but with the card the players are able to control the game and most of the time there is a clear winner.

Game – Persian – Call to Hafez

Nationality: American, Persian
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 22, 2011
Primary Language: English
Language: Persian

Persian Script“Oh, Hafez from Shiraz, you are the keeper of all secrets. By the devotion that you have to your lover, I beseech you to answer my wish.”

Hafez was a Persian poet, and his work has become extremely influential in Persian culture. Although it is authored work, his poems and sayings have become a part of the daily lives of Persian people, becoming almost like folklore. The ways in which his work is now used is particularly striking, and these uses have become folkloric in that they are ritualized and have become traditional. Many Persians will recite the “Call to Hafez” out loud, express a wish or desire, or even ask a question in their mind, and then open to a random page of poetry in the collection, “Odes of Hafez.” The performer will then read the poem and interpret its meaning, which they view as an answer or response to the desire or question they expressed. The informant made it very clear that this tradition has existed for several generations, as she remembers her father doing it with his friends when they lived in Iran. Furthermore, she made it very clear that this tradition cannot be distinguished by social or economic status either, and is a tradition practiced by all kinds of people. I found it particularly interesting when the informant insisted that I perform this tradition and ask Hafez a question. After asking a question and opening to a page, the informant became very excited and read the poem aloud, asking if it provided any insight into the question I asked. After stating that I was unsure, I revealed that I asked Hafez if I would be able to find employment after college. According to her analysis of the poem, my future is optimistic. Her excitement at not only performing this tradition herself, but also in sharing it with me, exemplified its role as a social activity, or game, that is fun and entertaining. It also exemplifies that people of all cultures have long tried to predict their futures and fortunes, often through astrology or entertaining traditions like this one.

Book of poems used: Odes of Hafiz: Poetical Horoscope (translated by Abbas Aryanpur Kashani)