Text: When the other team draws a penalty, the entirety of the NHL San Jose Sharks hockey fans in the rink do a shark chomping motion with their hands.
Context: Participant and I were watching hockey and they starting do a hand motion in celebration . She is a lifelong sharks hockey fan, with her parents being season ticket holders. She does this hand motion out in the wild too when she runs into other fans and want’s to show solidarity.
Analysis: This is an example of folk gesture and kinetic folklore within a sports subculture. The shark chomp is a ritualized performance that unifies thousands of strangers into a single sharks fan folk group through synchronized movement. The participant mentioned that it also serves to bring up the energy for the upcoming powerplay and intimidate the other fans/teams with the sheer amount of people participating. It also serves as an in-group signal for other sharks fans outside of the usual performance space- the ‘shark tank’ hockey rink.
Text “When I was in like middle and high school, there was always a game where anybody could make like an OK sign with their hand and hold it below their hip, like it had to be below your hip or it didn’t count. And if you looked at it and they saw you looking then they got to neck you (slap you on the neck). This could just happen like any time so you would always have to be careful, and I remember my friends would try to like bait me into looking down so they could neck me. But if I got them they would always say they didn’t look. Looking back, it was like so stupid. But it was just a way to get to hit your friends I think.”
Context VH explains the circle game as a long running game throughout middle and high school among his friend group. He says that no one ever explicitly taught him the rules of the game, and he feels that it just became a part of his life. VH also points out that the results were very up to personal interpretation and often disputed. This game was always playing, so at any time you could get caught looking. VH also says that he has seen this game on social media and other friends in college knew about it too.
Analysis The circle game is definitely an example of customary folklore as it is a repeated game that VH learned through experience and participation rather than in any explicit or formal way, which shows how folklore is disseminated unofficially. It’s also a great example of how folklore is constantly evolving and not always clearly defined, as everybody would have their own take on the rules of the game. This game was a manifestation of childhood humor, and also utilizes play frames to slap your friends in an “acceptable” way. The circle game is a great example of the young boy folk group, as it exists in multiplicity and variations outside of just one school/friend group, as VH notes that he has seen it on social media and this was a game that was often played in my school as well (in a totally different state).
The informant is a third year in the USC Trojans Marching Band.
The gesture is, using my left hand to make kind of a fist, you’re holding it upright. And then you take the other hand, you point your pointer finger (laughs) and then you stick that finger in the hole that your fist makes. But it’s important that it’s standing up.
-Informant Describing the Gesture
[How do you use this gesture?] I’m in the band. The Trojan Marching band of USC, Fight On. [Fight on] And this (hand gesture) is what the director would make when he is trying to call this song. Often times you can’t really hear Jake (the director) over the crowd noise, so he’ll make the gesture so we can know what we’re playing even if we can’t hear him. And it’s passed down. I can turn around and make the gesture at someone behind me and they’ll get it and pass down the gesture (to people behind them). [For the studio audience here, what song does it signifying you’re playing?] It signifies that we are playing in the stone. [Do you know how it came to be?] I assume that the fist is meant to be the stone (laughs) and the finger is meant to be the sword in the stone, so that brings it together to the name-sword in the stone (laughs). [Finger in stone, got it]
-Interview with the Informant
The gesture is one of many that the USC Marching Band uses during games. Someone who is not in band would not know any of the hand gestures as they would have no use for them. The band has an incredible strong bond as a group, which is reflected in the oodles of folklore it contains. Even in the interview with this informant, there was a demonstration of the band’s unique atmosphere. The informant referred to Dr. Jacob Vogel as Jake, something that only band members second year or up are allowed to do. People outside of band probably don’t know its director by name (Dr. Jacob Vogel), and certainly wouldn’t know him by the name Jake.
Additionally, this gesture demonstrates how some folklore is spawned as a solution to a problem. In this instance, the problem that the band faces with communication. Because of how hectic the games, both football and other sports, are, they are unable to hear what the director calls next. They have to rely on each other to pass back the song called both verbally with hand signals and this reliance strengthens their bond as a folk group. The informant’s understanding of why the gesture is the way it is draws upon a well known legend of King Arthur. The informant says that the finger signifies a sword in the stone, the stone being made up of the other fist, a clear reference to the sword in the stone which is a central part of the King Arthur legend. The song’s title, In the Stone, does not reference a sword in the stone, but instead that the love described in the song was written in stone, a reference to the Biblical story in which Moses receives the ten commandments written on stone tablets. Whether or not the gesture is a reference to the sword in the stone or just a demonstration of something being in a stone, the reference to a different very widespread piece of folklore in a much more exclusive piece of folklore was worthy of note.
Shaka Hand Sign – closed fist, thumb and pink extended
This hand gesture is very common in Pacific Islander culture and has spread over time to surfers and many Californian individuals. Original to Pacific Islander culture, the Shaka hand sign was a signal of Ohana or family, and even the broader belief of Shaka which was like “good vibes.” There are multiple variations as to what people think of and use Shaka for, but for the informant who is Pacific Islander, they found it to be an extension of the good/loving vibes of Ohana and to live life with the disciplines of having good days and the beliefs of Ohana.
Original Text: “My superstition or ritual I guess for getting good luck is this necklace my mom gave me for college auditions and it’s kind of just like a “crossing your fingers” pendant, like a little hand with crossed fingers for good luck. I rub it or touch it when I need luck. I feel like it has helped me because I got into my dream school, USC, and every time I wear it and touch it, it just feels like I’m getting good luck”
Context: The informant is 18 years old and studies musical theater at USC. Her family is Chinese, but she was raised in Singapore for most of her life. The informant was given this gold necklace with a crossed fingers charm by her mother for good luck during her college auditions. Her parents have “always supported my [her] pursuit of musical theater” and this necklace represents that. She always wears the necklace because it “means a lot” to her. She believes that the crossed fingers themselves amplify the luck already associated with the necklace.
Analysis: The necklace itself is fully gold, which in Chinese culture represents wealth, luck, and happiness. Her mom gifted her this piece of jewelry, which mirrors the common tradition of women gifting and passing down jewelry to each other that contain traditional knowledge, magic, or significance. Perhaps a man would not choose the same gift. The “crossed fingers” symbol that’s featured as a pendant is a common gesture for luck in Western culture and can be used to call on God for protection. Although this gesture is not uniquely Chinese or Singaporean, Singapore’s national language is English and the nation has a strong Western influence — explaining the luckiness of the “crossed fingers” for the informant and her family.
