Urban folklore (urban legends)
Urban folklore, commonly known as urban legends, refers to contemporary stories that often blend fantastical elements with real-life events, typically set in modern contexts. These narratives serve various purposes, including entertainment, moral instruction, and offering explanations for unusual occurrences. While often associated with urban settings, the term encompasses tales that are widely shared across diverse environments, differentiating them from traditional folklore. Sociologists and folklorists view urban legends as reflections of societal fears and values, utilizing them to understand contemporary cultural phenomena. The spread of these legends has been significantly accelerated by modern communication methods such as social media, radio, and email, which can quickly disseminate these stories across large audiences.
Famous examples include cautionary tales like "The Hook," which addresses teenage behavior, and other legends that often draw on real events but evolve to emphasize universal themes. Many urban legends gain credibility through the familiar structure of "a friend of a friend," enhancing their persuasive power. The fascination with urban folklore is evident in various media, including television shows and publications dedicated to investigating their authenticity. As such, urban legends continue to play a significant role in shaping and reflecting cultural narratives in contemporary society.
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Urban folklore (urban legends)
Urban folklore is a form of myth most commonly set in the present day. These tall tales are essentially modern-day fairy tales; they often include macabre elements related to pop culture, and often contain a moral. Urban legends, as such phenomena are also known, may be used to explain strange occurrences such as disappearances or as a warning against certain behaviors. They may be told as entertaining stories or actually believed as truth by the teller.
Although many urban legends are in fact set within an urban context, this is not always the case; the term is mostly used to differentiate these modern stories from ones of the past. For this reason, folklorists and sociologists tend to use the term "contemporary legend" in order to make the distinction from traditional folklore and avoid the connotations of "urban." While urban folklore is often spread through storytelling from person to person, other media may be involved as well. The radio, newspapers, and email have all popularized specific stories, and many modern urban legends are spread over social media.
Brief History
Folklorists have used the term "urban folklore" since the mid-twentieth century. Professor Jan Harold Brunvand of the University of Utah was responsible for bringing urban legends into the popular consciousness. He discouraged the use of the alternate term "urban myth," as he felt that a "myth" usually referred to a story understood as untrue, in contrast to the legends he studied and were often accepted as true by tellers and listeners. He began introducing urban legends to a modern audience in his series of books starting with The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends and Their Meanings, published in 1981. The book explains two key concepts about modern folklore: Brunvand states that legends and folklore are not exclusive to a primitive society and that much can be learned about contemporary cultures by studying their urban folklore.
Many urban legends have complete character development and plots. Several feature children who might be ill-mannered and who are forced to suffer for their acts. Many well-documented examples of urban folklore are based on real-life events. One legend involves the Fanta soda brand, and alleges that the Nazis started the soda company. Another, usually referred to as "The Hook," was loosely based on the murders on Lovers’ Lane in 1946 in Texas. In the legend, there is a young couple in a car on a lovers’ lane at night. When they hear that a murderer with a hook for a hand is loose in their area, the girl suggests that they go home. Later, when they get out of the car, they find a hook on the car door handle. Though these stories might have a basis in real events, certain themes and specific circumstances have been changed to be more universal. "The Hook" no longer details an actual murder, but serves as a cautionary tale against teenage sexuality.
In order to enhance the narrative’s power and strengthen its supposed validity, tellers of urban legends will often mention that the event or situation in question happened to a friend of a friend. By connecting the urban legend with someone that the narrator might know, this adds a certain amount of reliability and authenticity to the story. The fact that these stories can be based on grains of truth, and often serve as an apparently helpful warning about seemingly dangerous situations, also helps them pass as authentic to the unsuspecting listener. One way to tell if the story is an urban legend is if there is missing information, including names, locations, or other details.
Some urban legends make claims about real things—often everyday objects or brands—that are unverifiable, but the prominence of the subject and difficulty to disprove the legend allows the story to thrive. In this way such legends function much like conspiracy theories. One example is the logo of Proctor & Gamble, which featured the man on the moon surrounded by thirteen stars. It was alleged that this logo was a sign of Satan worshippers. The company eventually changed its logo due to bad publicity.
Overview
Sociologists have turned to urban folklore as a tool to try to understand modern problems. Folklorists look at some urban legends, particularly gruesome ones, as reflections on public fears. In the 1990s, when there was an increase in gang violence in the United States, urban legends about gang initiation murders were prevalent. Stories of contaminated food persist, as the public maintains an ambiguous attitude toward mass production of food; these stories flourish following real incidents of food contamination.
Since the Internet boom, it has become easier to spread urban folklore. Several websites have been dedicated to the preservation and tracking of urban legends, including snopes.com, which attempts to debunk or verify these stories. Forwarded e-mail chains, fake virus alerts, and fake or incendiary news stories also often involve or relate to urban legends.
Urban folklore can often come from popular culture, but it also can have a significant influence on culture itself, as evidenced by the many legends that find their way into television, movies, and other media. Public interest in urban legends and the truth behind them is seen in shows such as Urban Legends, Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction and Mostly True Stories: Urban Legends Revealed. These shows are usually used to explain these stories and to document if they are based on actual fact. MythBusters is another popular show that attempts to investigate whether or not various legends and stories are true, generally from a science and engineering perspective. The British national newspaper The Guardian had a long-running section that published information on various urban legends. The column used information from books such as Urban Myths, The Return of Urban Myths, Urban Myths Unplugged, and Now! That’s What I Call Urban Myths. Many other books have also been published on the subject, reflecting the enduring fascination with modern-day folklore.
Bibliography
Brunvand, Jan Harold. The Encyclopedia of Urban Legends. New York: Norton, 2002. Print.
Brunvand, Jan Harold. The Vanishing Hitchhiker: Urban Legends and Their Meanings. New York: Norton, 1981. Print.
Dawson, James. "Top 10 Urban Legends." Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 6 July 2014. Web. 4 Aug. 2016.
DiFonzo, Nicholas. "Urban Legends: Strange, Funny, & Horrible, with a Moral." Psychology Today. Sussex Directories, 14 Oct. 2011. Web. 4 Aug. 2016.
Harding, Nick. Urban Legends. Harpenden: Pocket Essentials, 2005. Print.
Harris, Tom. "How Urban Legends Work." HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks, 16 May 2011. Web. 4 Aug. 2016.
Stampler, Laura. "In Spite of Old, False Satanist Accusations, P&G Put a Moon Back Into Its New Logo." Business Insider. Business Insider, 21 May 2013. Web. 4 Aug. 2016.
Whipps, Heather. "Urban Legends: How They Start and Why They Persist." LiveScience. Purch, 27 Aug. 2006. Web. 4 Aug. 2016.