Legend of Flight MH370

Text: Below is a performance about a Legend of Flight MH370:

Interviewer: So what conspiracy theories have you heard or do you believe?

Interviewee: This is not one that I believe, because, I think there is no definite conclusion on what happened, but, for sure one I’m interested in, like, the disappearance of flight MH370, an airplane that took off in, like, Singapore, or something like that, and, like, rerouted and no ones knows where it’s been, no one can find out any materials of its crash, or anything, and it’s, like, really fascinating because that points to so many other conspiracies, like aliens, or other life on Earth, or whatever it is, like, for a flight to completely lose contact, and, like, for no one to be able to find the people in it, or find the remains of it, is very scary, very interesting, given that it hasn’t been solved yet. It’s, like, a conspiracy theory that really interests me, and, I mean, I sometimes want to, like, try to think on my own, like, what could have happened?

Interviewer: Do you have any, like, belief of what’s possible, of what could’ve happened, any theories?

Interviewee: I feel like, definitely, it was not related to aliens. I think it was probably, like, an inside job, or something, by like, you know, I don’t know who I might’ve been because, like, a lot of those controls that you have to turn off for it to get off the radar, are stuff you can only do from the cockpit, so, like maybe, along those lines, but, it for sure probably crashed somewhere where it’s going to be really hard to find, and they probably crashed there because it’s hard to find, and, in general, I think, like. barely anything of the ocean has been explored, so given that, it’s probably somewhere in the ocean.

Context:

This question was asked to a fellow USC Forms of Folklore student after a class discussion.
This interviewed student grew up in America and is from a Southern Indian immigrant family.

Analysis:

This example illustrates how mystery naturally leads to the creation of folk narratives. Because there was no definitive, full explanation of the crash, multiplicity and variation arises as everyday people try to gain understanding about the flight. We also are able to see how folk narratives overlap each other, as bearers of this legend about the flight use other folk beliefs, like aliens, to make sense of the disappearance.

White Vans Superstition

Interviewer: “I’ll give an example to start turning the gears in your head. A superstition my friends have is never splitting a pole because it gives you bad luck. Can you think of any similar practices?”

MA: Yea its kind of niche, but in high school there was this really bi superstition that if you wore shoes or white clothing when taking a test your mind would go blank and you’d perform poorly. If anyone was wearing white they always would dirty their clothes or shoes very slightly in order to do well on the exam.”

Context: MA is a sophomore at USC, however she is the youngest of her siblings and cousins who all attended the same high school. When she learned about this ritual, she was wearing white shoes to class, and her cousin, who is her age, scuffed her shoes slightly and told her about this practice to help her destress for the test they were about to take.

Analysis: This functions as a control ritual. In high stress environments like midterms, tests, exams etc, students often create causal links in order to relieve stress or justify grades. This functions as a folkloristic mechanism to manage anxiety, often employed by students across various cultures.

Knocking on Wood

Interviewer: “OK, personally some rituals i’ve grown accustomed to and practice are mostly related to theatre. Superstitions such as avoiding naming the play “Macbeth” in the theatre, never wearing your costume outside of rehearsal and performance, and a created folk song that was local to my high schools theatre department. What are some rituals or superstitions you believe in?”

AB: “I always knock on wood when I say something I don’t want to jinx, I don’t really even think about it anymore its more of an automatic reaction out of fear or something”

Interviewer: “Why do you think that works, like why do you use it?”

AB: “I don’t know, it makes me feel like i’m undoing evil energy, like your correcting it before some karmic lesson is taught to you, its like proactive.”

Context: The informant learned this practice from her parents. Her parents are very spiritual and superstitious and thus this, among many other practices, have become common place in her life. She recalls using the practice of “knocking on wood” since she was very little, around 9 years old. She is unsure if this practice has a tangible affect on her life, however she still uses it as a method of providing comfort to herself, proactively “saving” herself from an event before it occurs.

Analysis: This interview highlights how folk beliefs persist even when individuals do not fully rationalize or consciously believe in them. AB repeatedly framed their practices, such as knocking on wood as accidental or habitual, suggesting that these rituals function more as a medium to grant oneself peace of mind rather than superstition. This suggests that these rituals function less as explicit belief systems but more as engrained cultural behaviors where the action of knocking on wood takes less energy than the worry that accompanies bad karma.

“A stitch in time saves nine”

text: “a stitch in time saves nine”

Context: after telling my partner the Chinese proverb “未雨绸缪 (wèi yǔ chóu móu) or “repair the roof while the sun is shining” she said that another English proverb with the same message a “stitch in time saves nine”. She said that he learned the proverb from her grandmother who lived in rural America. It represents a universal truth about efficiency.

Analysis: Proverbs are often used from parents, telling their children a warning in order to induce better behavior and to instill a moral within children. This is an older proverb that has withstood the test of time which is impressive in our fast paced consumer culture, and has been passed on through oral tradition. This also demonstrates multiplicity and variation of folklore as two different proverbs from two completely different languages have the same meaning and cultural effect, employed in the same way in order to teach lessons.

Dumpster Pasta Ritual

Interviewer: “Thank you for meeting with me can you please tell me more about ritual practices you and your family perform?”

DA: “The one that comes to mind is this tradition we have where we make pasta every week. The pasta is called dumpster pasta because we use whatever is left in the fridge in the end of the week to make a pasta dish. The ritual started when my dad lost his job, money was tight so we tried making unfortunate financial circumstances into fun ritual practices in my family”

Interviewer: “Thank you for sharing that with me, do you still perform the ritual?”

DA: “Yes even though my family is doing better we still do the ritual as an act of gratitude to remind us of our struggles.”

Context: This ritual started in her immediate family and became an event for her and her family to break bread weekly and share a meal together. She mentioned that although her families finances are stable now, that she and her family still do the ritual, and she still partakes from her college dorm.

Analysis: This ritualistic practice spans distance as she still performs it even though her physical connection from her family is severed. It can be considered a ritual of healing for them now, and serves as a sort of liminal ritual as her family transitioned from financial statuses.