An urban legend is a kind of modern folklore consisting of stories often thought to be factual by those circulating them. (The term is often used with a meaning similar to that of the expression

URBAN LEGENDS

An urban legend is a kind of modern folklore consisting of stories often thought to be factual by those circulating them. (The term is often used with a meaning similar to that of the expression "apocryphal story"). Urban legends are not necessarily untrue, but they are often distorted, exaggerated, or sensationalized. Despite the name, a typical urban legend does not necessarily originate in an urban setting. The term is designed to differentiate them from traditional folklore in preindustrial times.

Urban legends are sometimes repeated in news stories and, in recent years, distributed by e-mail. People frequently allege that such tales happened to a "friend of a friend"—so often, in fact, that "friend of a friend", or "FOAF", has become a commonly used term when recounting this type of story.

Some urban legends have survived a long time, evolving only slightly over the years, as in the case of the story of a woman killed by spiders nesting in her elaborate hairdo. Newer legends tend to reflect modern circumstances, like the story of people ambushed, anaesthetized and waking up minus one kidney, which was surgically removed for transplantation.

Brunvand used his collection of legends, The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends & Their Meanings to make two points: first, that legends, myths and folklore do not occur exclusively to so-called primitive or traditional societies, and second, that one could learn much about urban and modern culture by studying such tales.

Structure

Many urban legends are framed as complete stories, with plot and characters. Urban legends often resemble a proper joke, especially in the manner of transmission, but are much darker in tone and theme.

The compelling appeal of a typical urban legend are its elements of mystery, horror, fear or humor. Many urban legends are presented as warnings or cautionary tales, while others might be more aptly called "widely dispersed misinformation", such as the erroneous belief that a college student will automatically pass all courses in a semester if one's roommate commits suicide. While such "facts" may not have the narrative elements of traditional urban legend, they are nevertheless conveyed from person to person with the typical elements of horror, humor or caution.

Much like some folk tales of old, there are urban legends dealing with unexplained phenomena such as phantom apparitions.

Propagation and belief

Many urban legends depict horrific crimes, contaminated foods or other situations which, if true, might affect a lot of people. Anyone believing such stories might feel compelled to warn loved ones.

A person might also pass on noncautionary information simply because it is funny or interesting. Many urban legends are essentially extended jokes, told as if they were true events. In some cases they may have originated as pure jokes, personalized by a subsequent teller to add point and force.

Many urban legends, like tall tales in general, contain a grain of truth. The urban legend that Coca-Cola developed the drink Fanta to sell in Nazi Germany without public backlash originated as the actual tale of German Max Keith. He invented the drink and ran Coca-Cola's operations in Nazi Germany during World War II.

Some urban legends have been devised by parents who wish to scare their children into obedience. Such stories often depict someone (usually a child) acting in a disagreeable manner, only to wind up hurt, dead, or in trouble.

People sometimes take urban legends to be true instead of recognizing them as tall tales or unsubstantiated rumorsbecause of the way they are told. The teller of an urban legend may claim it happened to a friend, which serves to personalize and enhance the power of the narrative. Since people, unconsciously or otherwise, often exaggerate, conflate or edit stories when telling them, urban legends can evolve over time.

Other terminology

Some people use the term "urban myth" instead of "urban legend". They feel that "urban legend" is less stigmatizing because "myth" is commonly used to describe things that are widely accepted as untrue. The more academic definitions of myth usually refer to a supernatural tale involving gods, spirits, the origin of the world, and so forth.

Some scholars prefer the term 'contemporary legend' to highlight those tales that originated relatively recently. This is true for all periods in history; for instance, an eighteenth-century pamphlet alleging that a woman was tricked into eating the ashes of her lover's heart would be a contemporary legend with respect to the eighteenth century.

The main scholarly association on the subject is called The International Society for Contemporary Legend Research, and its journal is titled Contemporary Legend.

Documenting urban legends

The advent of the Internet has facilitated the proliferation of urban legends. At the same time, however, it has allowed more efficient investigation of this social phenomenon.

Discussing, tracking and analyzing urban legends has become a popular pursuit. It is the topic of a thriving Usenet newsgroup, alt.folklore.urban, and several web pages, most notably snopes.com.

The United States Department of Energy has a service called Hoaxbusters that deals with all sorts of computer-distributed hoaxes and legends.

A television series, MythBusters, tries to prove or disprove urban legends by attempting to reproduce them.

Examples

One well-known modern urban legend depicts a person, typically an outrageously old woman who knew no better, who attempted to dry a wet poodle in a microwave oven, only to kill it. Another legend depicts what is known as The Vanishing hitchhiker, while another poses that alligators dwell in New York City's sewers, where they grow to enormous size after being flushed down the toilet by dissatisfied pet owners.

Few urban legends can be traced to their actual origins.Many urban legends revolve around consumer products and their perceived danger. One such urban legend depicts deaths caused by ingesting Pop Rocks candy mixed with soda, as they cause the stomach to explode. In reality, there is nothing dangerous about the products either separate or together, as the fizzing in Pop Rocks and soda are both caused by carbon dioxide gas. In fact, the soda tends to diminish the 'pop' of the Pop Rocks.

Other urban legends are rooted in racism and/or anti-Semitism. For example, a common urban legend in the Middle East is the blood libel which says Jews drink the blood of Christian children. Variations of the myth depict the baking of babies' blood into holiday pastries.

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