Hello culture enthusiasts!
Today we looked at some characters from American folklore. But first, what is folklore? And why is it important?
Folklore consists of the legends, music, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs and oral history of a culture or group, and the ways in which these are passed down from one generation to another. Folklore is unofficial, or non-institutional in that it is transmitted between people not institutions (like governments, schools, or churches). Folklore is important because it is part of the history of a culture and can help us better understand other cultures, but folklore also transcends boundaries by 'saying something appealing about the basic human condition' (Tim Schafer).
Students were divided into groups and assigned one of four characters from American folklore: Pocahontas, Johnny Appleseed, Pecos Bill, and Betsy Ross. Each group made a skit to present their character and his/her story to the class.
Pocahontas group
Betsy Ross group
Pecos Bill and Johnny Appleseed groups
Finally, we had a short birthday celebration for Marcos where we learned the lyrics to a silly birthday song that goes like this:
Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to youYou look like a monkey, and you smell like one too!
Discussion prompt:
Pick a character from Brazilian folklore, and explain their story. What do you think this character/story shows us about Brazilian culture? What does it say about the 'human condition' (a condição humana) in general? That is, how do you think this story crosses cultural or national boundaries, if at all?
Iara
ReplyDeleteIara é uma lenda indígena do folclore brasileiro, onde ela é uma linda sereia que vive no rio Amazônas.
Iara tem o poder de encantar os homens com o seu canto fazendo-os se jogarem dentro do rio.
Segundo a lenda, Iara era a melhor índia guerreira da tribo e seus irmãos com inveja planejaram matá-la, mas ela possuía um bom ouvido e os escutou e os matou primeiro.
Com medo da reação de seu pai, ela fugiu. Ele porém, sendo o pajé da tribo, a perseguiu, encontrou-a e matou-a tendo como punição ser jogada no encontro dos rios Negro e Solimões que posteriormente alguns peixes a transformaram em uma linda sereia.
------------------------------------------------------- A história da índia Iara, retoma o Brasil antes da colonização pelos portugueses, trazendo à tona o prestígio da mulher brasileira e de uma certa maneira, a história, representa os desejos e sentimentos de todos nos seres humanos.
by Agnaldo
There was a beautiful Indian named Naia who fell in love with Jaci (the Moon), which shone in the sky to light the nights. Jaci, the moon, usually down to earth to seek some virgin and turn her in a star from the sky to keep his company. Naia, heard it, wanted to be also a star. During the day, brave warriors tried to woo Naia, but it was all in vain, for she refused all wedding invitations. And could not wait to get out when night comes to admire Jaci, who seemed to ignore the poor Naia. He hoped his rise and fall on the horizon in the early morning and almost quit running in the opposite direction to the Sun to try to reach the Moon ran and ran until they drop from exhaustion in the woods. Night after night, trying to Naia was repeated. Until one day Naia saw the reflection of the moon in the clear waters of the creek and sank in deep water, but ended up drowning. Jaci, the moon, seeing the sacrifice of India, decided to turn her in an unusual star. The fate of Naia was not in heaven, but the waters reflect the glow of the moonlight. Naia turned the "Vitoria Regia", the big Amazonian flower of waters, wich only opens its petals in the moonlight.
ReplyDeleteThis legend depicts a bit of Indian culture and its legends and how they create stories about plants, the sun, nature and others. According to the indians, this is the story of the famous plant in Amazonas, called Vitoria Régia.
ReplyDeleteWerewolf
According to legend a couple who had seven daughters have a boy then this will be a Werewolf. At 13 he begins to suffer the curse and becomes a werewolf.
Some say that there are other ways to pass on the curse: when an old Werewolf feels he will die, he is suffering a lot to pass the "burden" to someone younger. And can not die before then. If you have any young man around, he asks: "Do you want to?". Naively the young man replies "yes" believing it to be an inheritance or gift. Just like the old die satisfied, having passed the curse on he will have peace of mind.
Otherwise suffer from the curse is if a man is attacked by a wolf or a werewolf and survive.
The man who turns into werewolf is always very thin, with sunken eyes, very pale. Often live alone, many find it a bit weird.
Thursday nights to Friday nights are the transformation, there are people who say that transformation will only occur under the full moon. He returns to human form before daybreak.
His howl is chilling!
Attacks anyone who crosses your path, there are people who say he only attacks if you feel threatened.
In some parts of Brazil and the world, because this is a common legend in several countries, refer to the Werewolf as an immortal, ageless, does not get sick and injured has a rapid healing. Thus, you can only kill the werewolf with a gun he used a silver bullet.
Boto
ReplyDeleteIt is believed that the legend of the boto has arisen in the Amazon region. He is represented by a young man, handsome and charming that enchants women at dances and parties. After the conquest, lead them to the edge of a river and pregnant. Before the dawn comes, he dives into the river to turn into a button.
Saci
ReplyDeleteis a character commonly regarded to be the best known character in Brazilian folklore. He is a one-legged black or mulatto youngster with holes in the palms of his hands, who smokes a pipe and wears a magical red cap that enables him to disappear and reappear wherever he wishes (usually in the middle of a dust devil). Considered an annoying prankster in most parts of Brazil, and a potentially dangerous and malicious creature in others, he will nevertheless grant wishes to anyone who manages to trap him or steal his magic cap. However his cap is often depicted as having a bad smell, most people who claimed to have stolen this cap often say they can never wash the smell away.
By Francisca