Birthday Folklore and Superstitions: Songs and Beliefs
Explore a collection of birthday folklore including traditional songs and superstitions. Discover unique customs and beliefs associated with birthdays shared by individuals from various cultural backgrounds.
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Presentation Transcript
Birthday Birthday Folklore Folklore Collected by Emanuela Tsesarsky Collected by Emanuela Tsesarsky
Overview Collected birthday folklore from a variety of genres, but today s presentation will focus on songs and superstitions
Item #1 Informant: Katie Goldstein Social/Cultural Context From California, feels like she has a typical American birthday Katie s grandmother used to sing this song mother continued tradition This is sung in the days/weeks leading up to a family birthday
Item #2 Informant: C.P. (asked not to be identified for the class presentation) Social/cultural context From New York, feels like she has a typical American birthday C.P. s grandparents sang this to her mother, who in turn sings it to her (and everyone else in the family) Sings this throughout the day of the birthday
Item #3 Informant: Caroline Smith Social/cultural context From California, feels like she has a typical American birthday Caroline s uncle created this song it is a rendition of Stevie Wonder s Happy Birthday They call it the Black Birthday Song This is sung while having cake
Analysis It s more important to highlight when the songs are sung as opposed to the lyrics of the songs Arnold Van Gennep Les Rites de Passage Rituals are divided into three stages: separation, transition and incorporation We can understand each of these birthday songs as belonging to a particular stage Katie s: separation C.P. s and Caroline s: incorporation
Item #1 Informant: Priscilla Salovaara Social/cultural context From New Jersey, feels like she has a typical American birthday Has 4 brothers, which impacts the way birthdays were celebrated in her home Not sure if she would call this a superstition, or if her dad is just trying to be funny Item: as kids, they could only open a birthday present on the birthday day or anytime after. They were not allowed to open a present before the birthday
Item #2 Informant: Emanuela Tsesarsky Social/cultural context From New York, feels like she has a typical American birthday Father is from Ukraine and has many superstitions/rituals that he has passed down Item: Emanuela was never allowed to have a birthday party before her actual birthday. She could have it the day of or any day after
Analysis Rituals always mark natural events Presents/birthday parties mark a full revolution around the sun Want to make sure that the ritual is not done before the natural event Perhaps bad luck: maybe the natural event won t happen if we perform the ritual too soon
