Urban legend
Urban legends (sometimes modern legend, urban myth, or simply legend) is a genre of folklore concerning stories about an unusual (usually scary) or humorous event that many people believe to be true but largely are not.[1]
"Urban myths" redirects here. For the TV series, see Urban Myths.
These legends can be entertaining but often concern mysterious peril or troubling events, such as disappearances and strange objects or entities. Urban legends may confirm moral standards, reflect prejudices, or be a way to make sense of societal anxieties.[2]
In the past, urban legends were most often circulated orally, at gatherings and around the campfire for instance. Now, they can be spread by any media, including newspapers, mobile news apps, e-mail, and most often, social media. Some urban legends have passed through the years/decades with only minor changes, in where the time period takes place. Generic urban legends are often altered to suit regional variations, but the lesson or moral generally remains the same.
Origin and structure[edit]
The term "urban legend", as used by folklorists, has appeared in print since at least 1968, when it was used by Richard Dorson.[3] Jan Harold Brunvand, professor of English at the University of Utah, introduced the term to the general public in a series of popular books published beginning in 1981. Brunvand used his collection of legends, The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends & Their Meanings (1981) to make two points: first, that legends and folklore do not occur exclusively in so-called primitive or traditional societies, and second, that one could learn much about urban and modern culture by studying such tales.
Many urban legends are framed as complete stories with plot and characters. The compelling appeal of a typical urban legend is its elements of mystery, horror, fear, or humor. Often they serve as cautionary tales.[4] Some urban legends are morality tales that depict someone acting in a disagreeable manner, only to wind up in trouble, hurt, or dead.[5]
Urban legends will often try to invoke a feeling of disgust in the reader which tends to make these stories more memorable and potent. Elements of shock value can be found in almost every form of urban legend and are partially what makes these tales so impactful.[6] An urban legend may include elements of the supernatural or paranormal.
Relation to mythology[edit]
The earliest term by which these narratives were known, "urban belief tales", highlights what was then thought of as a key property: their tellers regarded the stories as true accounts, and the device of the FOAF (acronym for "Friend of a Friend" invented by English writer and folklorist Rodney Dale in 1976) was a spurious but significant effort at authentication.[20] The coinage leads in turn to the terms "FOAFlore" and "FOAFtale". While at least one classic legend, the "Death Car", has been shown to have some basis in fact,[21] folklorists have an interest in debunking those narratives only to the degree that establishing non-factuality warrants the assumption that there must be some other reason why the tales are told, re-told and believed.[22] As in the case of myth, the narratives are believed because they construct and reinforce the worldview of the group within which they are told, or "because they provide us with coherent and convincing explanations of complex events".[23]
Social scientists have started to draw on urban legends in order to help explain complex socio-psychological beliefs, such as attitudes to crime, childcare, fast food, SUVs and other "family" choices.[24] The authors make an explicit connection between urban legends and popular folklore, such as Grimm's Fairy Tales, where similar themes and motifs arise. For that reason, it is characteristic of groups within which a given narrative circulates to vehemently reject claims or demonstrations of non-factuality; an example would be the expressions of outrage by police officers who are told that adulteration of Halloween treats by strangers (the subject of periodic moral panics) occurs extremely rarely, if at all.[22][25]
Genres[edit]
Crime[edit]
As with traditional urban legends, many internet rumors are about crimes or crime waves – either fictional or based on real events that have been largely exaggerated.[36][37][38] Such stories can be problematic, both because they purport to be relevant modern news and because they do not follow the typical patterns of urban legends.[39]
Medicine[edit]
Some legends are medical folklore, such as the claim that eating watermelon seeds will result in a watermelon growing in the stomach, or that going outdoors just after showering will result in catching a cold.[40] Many Old wives' tales have grown around the identification of ailments, real and imagined, and the recommended remedies, rituals, and home-grown medical treatments to treat them.
Internet[edit]
Internet urban legends are those spread through the internet, as through Usenet or email[41] or more recently through other social media. They can also be linked to viral online content. Some take the form of chain letters and spread by e-mail, directing the reader to share them or to meet a terrible fate,[42] and following a recognizable outline of hook, threat, and finally request.[43] Others are fake virus-alerts, warning people of nonexistent threats to their computers, often appearing as online pop-ups claiming to be giveaways or store coupons.[44]
Paranormal[edit]
Paranormal urban-legend stories usually involve someone encountering something supernatural, such as a cryptid[45]—for instance, Bigfoot or Mothman,[46] legendary creatures for which evidence is lacking but which have legions of believers.[47] Research shows that people experiencing sudden or surprising events (such as a Bigfoot sighting) may significantly overestimate the duration of the event.[48]
Marketing[edit]
Companies have been accused of hiding "secret messages" behind their logos or packaging,[49] as in the case of the old Procter & Gamble symbol, supposedly an occult figure that gave panache to the brand. (If the thirteen stars in the symbol were connected a certain way, it would show three sixes in a row.)[50] Similarly, a video of a Christian woman "exposing" Monster Energy for using the Hebrew alphabet symbol for the letter "M" to disguise the number 666 went viral on Facebook.[51]
Some urban legends have been used intentionally for comic purposes in advertising. The most well-known examples include the use of a Sasquatch in Jack Link commercials, known as "Messin' with Sasquatch," and the use of unicorns in Icebreakers ads. Another is the New Jersey Devils hockey team, named for the state's popular cryptid, the Jersey Devil.[52]