What role does the Internet play in the study and spread
of urban legends?
Not to repeat myself too much (see “Internet Resources,” pp.
328-330), the Internet is “both a tool for researching urban legends and a
conduit for the dissemination and discussion of rumors and legends.” For the
scholar, urban legends archives, indexes, journals, newsletters, etc. are often
available online. For the non-academic enthusiast, the Internet, including
email and social media, offers a rapid means of swapping stories and resources
for checking them out.
Have you heard any
new urban legends lately?
“New” is a relative term in this context, since so many of
the rumors and stories that go around are variations on older themes. Here’s a
“new” example that ties together several things I’ve already mentioned:
A college student in Buenos Aires emailed me to ask about a
story she had heard; evidently she had not come across it in the lectures or
readings for her folklore class, although she had read some of my books. It
seems that an Argentine girl goes with her class on their high school
graduation trip to the well-known “party town” (and ski resort) Bariloche, and
after meeting a boy in a club she has unprotected sex with him. When the group
is ready to leave for home on their tour bus, the boy gives her a box that, he
says, contains a surprise. As soon as the bus starts off, the girl opens the
box finding inside only a black rose and a note reading “Welcome to the Club of
AIDS.”
I replied to her email explaining that this was a localized
version of the “AIDS Harry” (aka “AIDS Mary”) legend (Type 05540 in my index).
It is a story told internationally in many variations. The black rose is an
unusual touch, and the note more often reads “Welcome to the AIDS club,” or
something similar in another language. (She did not give me the presumed
Spanish text of the note.) Even the graduation trip and the long bus ride to
and from Bariloche fit the local tradition with comfortable long-distance
coaches complete with meal service, videos, and restrooms as the norm of such
travel in Argentina.
What’s new in urban legend studies?
While I was proofreading
my Encyclopedia, the International
Society for Contemporary Legend Research (ISCLR) held its annual conference in
Göttingen, Germany, from June 5-9, 2012. Abstracts of the papers presented
appeared in the newsletter Foaftale News,
which I consulted online. Among the topics discussed were these:
Two papers on Russian legends, one concerning a
constitutional crisis set off by an action of President Boris Yeltsin in 1993,
and the other about Russian children’s horror legends of the 1970s-‘90’s.
The so-called “snuff films” and some legendary reactions
to them in Germany .
Legends and legend-tripping involving the ritualistic
decorative painting of railway trestle-bridges by adolescents in Canada .
Protests among Dutch Protestants against supposed “Gay
Jesus” films as well as against some real movies about Jesus.
“New spiritualities” as represented by stories about a
supposed “mystery” area of South West France.
Scam letters and emails similar to the “Double Theft”
urban legends.
A prototype system developed for computerized cataloging
of Polish urban legends.
Emergent legends critical of Barack Obama, circulated
mainly as email forwards by far-right detractors of the president.
Legends about Frank Lloyd Wright.
Child Abduction legends from Eastern European counries.
“The Vanishing Hitchhiker” revisited [again!] and also as
circulated in Portugal both orally and in a short film shown on YouTube.
A “friendly ghost” figure in recent Japanese legends that
helps people deal with current social problems.
Legends about the kidnapping of children in Mexico .
And a topic that
illustrates the emergence of new legends from current events:
Post BP-Oil Spill rumors and legends from Costal
Louisiana.
This researcher reported
stories of outsiders illegally becoming “spillionaires” by falsely claiming
losses from the spill or by securing huge clean-up contracts that employed
outside workers rather than locals. Other stories claimed that New Orleans
restaurant workers and Bourbon Street strippers were supposedly “receiving
generous settlements (because their income from tips might be affected if
tourism dropped).”
Encyclopedia of Urban Legends, Updated and Expanded Edition is available now at abc-clio.com!
Encyclopedia of Urban Legends, Updated and Expanded Edition is available now at abc-clio.com!
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