Category Archives: Material

Origami Cranes

Informant: “I learned origami as a child in my home. My siblings were the ones to teach me. My parents had bought instructional books for my older brother and sister and before I could read, they were teaching me to fold paper cranes and frogs. At school, I would habitually fold scrap paper into birds and other creatures and sometimes gift them to friends or teachers. If asked, I would happily show my friends how to make origami creations of their own, as my siblings had for me.”

Context: Informant is a 23 year old Japanese American USC student who grew up in Lancaster, CA. He also recalls how often other classmates would make things out of paper in his elementary school. Fortune tellers, paper airplanes, and other origami animals were among the many things he learned to make when he was younger, usually taught by family.

analysis: Origami is a classic example of material folklore. This material folklore tradition may have a deeper meaning to the informant’s family due to his Japanese cultural heritage, because origami originated in Japan and has been taught across multiple generations. It’s interesting how the origin of this folklore has adapted and changed over time. Although the original teachings of Origami may have required someone to physically be there to teach you, it has been more commercialized due to its instructions being published and spread in kids books across the world. Also, being able to make Origami swans in school is a way for children to socially collaborate and interact with one another. Its a living tradition amongst children, and is still shared even today.

Korean military folk food: ppogeuri

Text

Ppogeuri (뽀글이) is a slang name for instant ramen that Korean soldiers often eat. The food has to be eaten at a specific time, and that is late night after a soldier comes back from night watch. What makes ppogeuri different from regular instant ramen is that because cup noodles weren’t available during the time my informant was a soldier, they had to use the plastic packaging the instant noodles came in as the cooking pot and plate. With no kettle and hot water only being available during shower times, you would have use cold water and put the packaging near a radiator to actually boil and cook it. With Korean culture’s emphasis on age and the strict environment Korean soldiers train in, my informant talked about how only sergeants were allowed to secretly make this dish after night watch. The only time he ate ppogeuri as a lower-ranked personnel was when he was a private and one of his superiors allowed him to have a bite, which he described that first bite as heavenly.

Context

The informant is a 51 year man born and raised in South Korea. As a South Korean male, he was required to serve in the military, and he served in the Korean army from October 1994~ December 1996 after his freshman year in college. This topic came up when we were talking about military food, when I told him about my worries for food quality at my military training center for ROTC. He first saw this folk food when he was coming back from his first night watch as a private, when one of the superiors he was standing watch with cooked ppogeuri as a late night snack. Even after his discharge, he said he tried cooking instant noodles the same way but said the noodles tasted raw and the soup was chalky. His interpretation of this dish is that it can only be enjoyed by people who went through the same military experience – during his service, when barracks were old, cramped, and soldiers often trained hungry, soldiers could at least count on ppogeuri to fill their stomachs after a grueling shift of night watch.

Analysis

Based on what I learned, my takeaway from this folklore is that ppogeuri is a vernacular folk dish that can only exist under specific, strict constraints. To start, its preparation method was created due to the lack of cooking tools on base, and can only be eaten by superior ranks while lower ranks can only hungrily watch or stand lookout. In this way, ppogeuri symbolizes the hierarchal nature of militaries, where even simple acts like cooking ramen is denied. However, just like my informant’s first experience with the dish, when a lower-ranked personnel is allowed a bite, this goes beyond an act of kindness – it creates an unforgettable moment of bond as one individual directly contradicts the system he’s supposed to blindly follow for a fellow soldier. Finally, the timing of when one eats ppogeuri, which is after a long night of watch, reflects the shared struggle a folk group (soldiers in this case) go through. As such, it may not even be a stretch to say that one way to identify membership within the folk group of Korean soldiers is if one has ever ate and enjoyed ppogeuri under these same conditions. All in all, ppogeuri is a reminder of how folk dishes can be crafted from creativity that is developed to get around constraints. At an individual level, I believe ppogeuri holds a great personal value for former Korean veterans, as it is a dish that symbolizes the strict system they adapted to during their youth, while being a source of comfort and nostalgia they can look back on.

Korean Military folk dish: gundaeria

Text: ***google translated from Korean to English via google translate

Informant:

“Back when I was in the military 30 years ago, our country was slowly becoming a developed nation. As a result, the military decided to copy foreign armies and offer a wider variety of food option. Western-style dishes began appearing on the menu on weekends. That dish was the “gundaeria” – essentially a chicken patty and some shredded lettuce inside a hamburger bun. It didn’t taste particularly good, but it was a welcome change from the usual rice and soup, and since it was something you could only get while in the service, it’s something I Iook back on in a bittersweet way. When I first saw it, it felt like nothing more than a cheap imitation of a real hamburger. As for the taste? It tasted like shit. Looking back now, even that has become a cherished memory”

Context:

The informant is a 51 year man born and raised in South Korea. As a South Korean male, he was required to serve in the military, and he served in the Korean army from October 1994~ December 1996 after his freshman year in college. This topic came up when we were talking about military food, when I told him about my worries for food quality at my military training center for ROTC. As shown in his words, his first impression was not particularly good, but it has become one of his core memories from his time in the military.

Analysis:

In my opinion, this piece of food folklore serves great historical value that helps one understand the culture and history of South Korea. Historically, as South Korea rapidly industrialized and grew its economy following its desolate state after the Korean War, issues in human rights, free speech, and democracy were often suppressed by force to prioritize improving its world image as a developed nation and growing the economy. Likewise, this dish symbolizes this trend of Korean history, as it was introduced to mimic the Western and developed countries South Korea strived for, but its inner truth of cheap ingredients could not be masked, as shown from the informant’s distaste for the actual dish.

Despite its horrid taste, however, its exclusivity of only being served on weekends and contrast from traditional military meals created the dish’s significance for soldiers during their service, and gundaeria’s distinct taste only being something you could taste in the military made it an unforgettable memory for veterans at that time like my informant. Hence, just like this famous Ratatouille scene where the critic is blown away by the dish’s ability to bring back nostalgic memories, it goes to show that folk dishes can become significant not just for its taste, but for the nostalgic values it brings. Moreover, this exclusivity surrounding this food also becomes something that only the Korean military veterans folk group can relate to, serving as a group marker. In short, while it may not be remembered for taste, gundaeria is a folk dish that provides historical commentary and a reminder of shared experiences.

Vietnamese New Year Celebration “Tet” Traditions

Context:

My informant is a 56-year-old woman of Vietnamese descent. She was born and raised in Vietnam, and immigrated to the United States when she was young. She was raised Buddhist, surrounded by Vietnamese culture and traditions, passed down from the generations of her family.

Text:

In Vietnamese culture, lunar new year is celebrated with a celebration called Tết. This celebration is often multiple days long.

The first day of Tết starts on the day before the start of lunar new year on New Year’s Eve. You are supposed to cook food and offer it to the altar to bring home your ancestors for the New Year. Her mom also waits for midnight to come and offer food and pray to the ancestors. The family also visits temple to ring in the New Year at midnight. 

On the second day of Tết, New Year’s Day, the family would cook food to offer to the altar again to send off the ancestors. Prayers are also involved. They again visit a temple to pray for a good, healthy year. 

On the last day of Tết, they visit families and relatives, to offer good wishes and give red money envelopes to younger children and young adults. It is also encouraged to visit ancestors at their gravesites to wish them well.

The celebrations and activities might go on for longer, but the three days are considered Tết.

Analysis:

Tết combines many forms of folklore together such as ritual, superstition, and material folklore. There is the ritual of going to temple, to cooking, and visiting family on specific days every year. There are also the superstitions of what day to do each action in order to bring prosperity and good luck into their homes in the new year. Then the food and red envelopes are material folklore that they use to bring wealth and prosperity.

Chinese New Year – Chun Lian Good Luck

Context:

The informant grew up in a Taiwanese household in the Bay Area. He grew up always celebrating Chinese New Year, a holiday that occurs every February. The holiday celebrates the start of the first day of the Lunar New Year.

Text:

“For Chinese New Year, we have, like, a red sheet of paper with Chinese calligraphy on it called Chun Lian. We stick it on the outside of our door, to ward off like evil and also brings in good luck as well.”

I asked, “Is this something that you’ve always done, like, on Chinese New Year.”

“Yeah, like, we did it always growing up.”

“So you just learned it from my parents?”

“Yes, I learned it from my parents.”

Analysis:

From what I know about Chinese New Year, many of the traditions, foods, and decorations all revolve around bringing in good luck for the new lunar new year and getting rid of all of the bad luck. This tradition does not seem to be any different. The red also seems to be a prominent theme is getting rid of the bad luck, and in tandem with the calligraphy, they are able to ring in the Chinese New Year with prosperity.