New Year’s Banzai

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“Every year or New Year’s day my entire extended family, on my Dad’s Japanese American side, get together at my aunt’s house. We all live relatively close to her house in San Pedro, so everyone drives up to her place. It is tradition for everyone to coordinate with her on what to bring so there is a feast with a variety of foods. We always eat mochi soup, spam musubi, and sushi along with many other dishes and desserts. Each year after we eat, everyone gathers in the living room to do a toast with the adults having some sort of alochol such as champaigne and the kids with juice. Unfortunately I still have to drink the juice for a couple more years. Then, usually an older man of the family, like one of my uncles, gives a toast to the new year with wishes of health, love, and fortune and ends the speech with yelling “Banzai” three times. After each ‘banzai’ we repeat it after him while raising our glasses, and after three times we all drink.”

Context

“I think this family tradition manifests connection and love for the new year and makes the day feel special. As far as I know, the tradition started at my great uncle’s house and following his passing, my aunt also his daughter, continued the celebration at her house. From my memory we have been gathering and performing this tradition as far as I can remember in my 17 years.”

Analysis

Family folklore often is passed down throughout generations in the form of traditions. In this particular family, the tradition that began at her great uncle’s house is carried on by his daughter to keep the family’s identity on New Year’s alive and also maintains the memory of her father. Often times, folklore is maintained across generations to preserve what the folk before us created with minor changes in tradition along the way. The annual tradition of this event along with the Banzai toast make it a ritual because of the same foods and actions performed for each celebration. The shared drinking and eating foster connection and give this folk group their own unique identity.

Knock on Wood

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“Whenever predicting something positive to come or making a simple statement, I often say “knock on wood” after and knock on a surface such as a wooden desk. This practice ensures I do not put bad luck into existence and cause the exact opposite of what was said to happen, also known as jinxing something. One example is when I tell my friends something like “the Lakers are definitely going to win the playoff series” I would follow with saying knock on wood and knocking on a surface to ensure good luck. Sometimes when I am not near a table I will knock on anything such as my own thigh or head because the knock following the phrase is crucial to this folk ritual.”

Context

“I first heard this from my dad who would often say “knock on wood” to avoid jinxing a good thing he was talking about. I didn’t directly ask him what it meant but instead picked up the context clues of its usage as I heard more people around me also performing the ritual. While some of them believe it completely ensures good luck, most of the friends and family I know feel it is more for personal security to prevent any karma or bad luck. They described this action as a habitual part of their daily lives.”

Analysis:

This is a strong example of a folk ritual that acts as a form of American folk belief. Its usage is varied based on how different individuals came to learn about the practice. Some knock on physical wood, others any object, and others who simply say the phrase. This folk ritual is a form of comfort for folk to alleviate stress from uncertain outcomes and bad luck in day to day life. While some believe in it completely, others like to habitually do it to feel like they are in control of their lives. This ritual reveals that in American culture, simple traditions can hold strong cultural value through causing positive outcomes and passing down to other generations. It is a form of homeopathic magic because the action is meant to create good outcomes and prevent bad ones. By the idea that like affects like, the actions is positively performed to ensure positive results.

Stickers on my Computer

Context

“When I was 8 I loved collecting stickers. I would pay quarters at pizza restaurants to collect the random stickers and get sticker books. When I got older, I saw how popular it was for people to put stickers on their water bottles and binders. I was so happy to finally use my stickers, so I had the sticker-iest water bottle and binder. This childish thing I did seemed like a stupid phase, but it stuck with me as I grew. They were meaningless and fun until I got to high school.”

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“I was more mature in high school, in pursuit of meaning in life, and most importantly, I got a computer. I began to put stickers on the laptop signifying places I’ve been, passions I’ve had, or people I was close to. Some of these stickers have been transferred from my water bottle, taped over and over again because it keeps falling off. My favorite is a picture of Justin Bieber. Not because I love Justin, but becuase my little brother and I had a running joke that we were his biggest fans. The sticker reminds me of him now that I’m in college. Eventually, the computer will die, but the memories won’t. I’m keeping it to show my kids, and explain what I was like when I was their age through my favorite childhood accessory: my stickers.”

Analysis

The meaning that the simplest objects can have for different individuals show a key trait of typical folklore. In folklore, the piece of lore being shared is often underappreciated or meaningless to those outside of the folk group. Thus, this personal connection to different things such as stickers shows how folklore is so important in our lives. For my friend, his computer stickers carry memories of childhood and family giving his computer a piece of his identity. In contrast, I do not hold the same heartfelt connection to stickers which is why my laptop is bare. Still, I can appreciate his lore and pass it on to others who too like sticker decorations. As we discussed, material culture is a prominent form of folklore because it acts as a reminder of important things in one’s life. Through the stickers he is reminded of his family and childhood making a laptop into folk art that tells stories of his life.

Ravioli Day

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“My family and I celebrate Ravioli Day every year during early December. It’s a family tradition passed down in our family for more than 100 years now. When it hits Decemeber my mom’s side of the family gathers at my grandparent’s house where we all bring ingredients for ravioli and cook as one family. This past year my family brought the cheese and my personal job was add the filling to the pasta dough that is rolled by my grandma, mom, and aunts. Sometimes when me or my cousins mess up the filling the ravioli explodes and it becomes a funny blame game to guess who did it. Everyone in the family helps whether its making the dough, rolling the dough, making the pasta shapes, making the filling, or making the sauce. Once we finish cooking everything we save it and enjoy it together for Christmas dinner.”

Context

“I never really found out about this tradition besides the fact that I have been doing it since I was a baby. My mom did tell me that it has been in the family for at least a hundred years and even she did not know when it started because she has been doing it since childhood as well. Ravioli day ties to our Italian culture and makes Christmas and the entire month of December unique to my family. I love to see all my relatives during December because they are all scattered throughout the US compared to my grandparents and I who live in California.”

Analysis

Traditions like these represent family customs that act as folklore because they are informally passed down through generations. As in this story, the folk group which is his entire family shares a common cultural identity of being Italian-American. The use of ravioli is a symbol of their ancestry due to the food’s origins and in that sense they are carrying on the legacy of their predecessors who created this tradition. This is called foodways because culture and memory is preserved through the sharing of food. Like him and his mother who learned about this tradition simply by habitually doing the tradition each year since birth, many of us don’t recognize the many things we do daily that are forms of folklore because it is so normal to us. From an outsider perspective, however, this family tradition is unheard of and is specific to their folk group.

Flooding the World

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“I’m sure you’ve heard of the story of Noah and the Ark, the man God told to build a boat and bring two of every animal. From what I learned, God floods the world and only Noah and his family survive. As a catholic, I learned about this tale at a young age during my Sunday school. When I did deeper searching out of curiousity, I found an online story where Zeus floods the world, and an old husband and wife survive by holding onto chests with their belongings and repopulating the Earth by throwing their mother (earth) bones (rocks) behind them. I know there is also a native american story where two climbed to the top of the highest tree to survive a flood. Manu, who was a Hindi legent, survived a flood by following a fish avatar. Chickasaws made rafts to save themselves.”

Context

I would come across these different stories from books I read and things I saw in class, and it always brought me back to Noah and the Ark. I still remember these stories because they made me wonder if they all were somehow inspired by each other. As I got older, I got really interested in Greek Mythology through the book Percy Jackson in particular. My interest caused me to read more and I found stories similar to Noah and the Ark from different cultures.

Analysis

Each religion has their own story, and many are passed down through the generations. Religion is one of the most widespread topics studied from a folklorist perspective because it is informally passed down through stories, sayings, and rituals. The flood stories presented above share related myths but differ based on the values of the respecitve folk groups. In folklore, myths are used in outerwordly contexts to help folk understand their own world and existence. The beauty of folklore is that it is formed on the basis of shared belief and identity and does not focus on the legitmacy of it. Instead, as long as people believe and allow it to shape parts of their lives, it will spread and keep cultural values alive. The flood in all these represent the multiple forms and variation folklore can come in. Folklore often exists in patterns as seen with the flood, but each story is adapted to its culture’s values.