Chapter 1
Introduction
The Urban Legends and the Society
A Research Paper Presented to
Mr. Dustin Celestino of The English Resource Center
Asia Pacific College
Magallanes, Makati
In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Course
RESWRITE-Research Writing
Pamela V. Palada
February 2013
From the word Urban that means “city” and Legend that means
“story from the past,” Urban Legend is an apocryphal, fictional story that is
asserted whether it is real or not, although there are stories that are
convincing enough to be considered as real. It can be also defined as a modern
myth, a common folklore, which is the teller insists that it is true despite
that the teller does not have an evidence to prove it. (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-urban-legends.htm)
It is usually passed down through generations,
person-to-person, and with the help of technology and media, however; as people
recite the said legend to other, the story changes person-to-person. The teller
usually claims that the story happened to a friend or a friend of their friend
that sometimes leads to “FOAFlore,” and FOAFtale.” That is why it is hard to
know where did the legend came from and its origin, and whether the legend is a
hoax or not.
Despite on its name, an urban legend, sometimes, it does not
necessarily come from an urban area. Rather, it is used to differentiate modern
legend from the traditional folklore, and for this reason, sociologists and
folklorists prefer the name “contemporary legend.”
The term Urban Legend has appeared in a print since at least
1968 by an American folklorist, Jan Harold Brunvand, and also a professor in
English at the University of Utah as he introduced the term to the public by
publishing a series of a book in the beginning of 1981. One of his books, The
Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends & Their Meanings (1981) shows
that legend and folklore does not partially occur traditionally –but can also
happen in our modern times. (http://www.tafkac.org/)
Urban Legends, has different kinds of category: Horror,
humorous, there are some about health, embarrassing and sometimes, ironic.
Nowadays, people still tend to spread Urban Legends, but some
of it became ghost stories. One example of it is the popular “Bloody Mary,”
wherein almost of the people knows it, it was a popular legend among teenagers
and students since students usually dare each other to do the certain ritual to
summon Bloody Mary. Up until now, you can still hear a number of people talking
about Bloody Mary even though the legend about her was started many years ago
in England. This indicates that, no matter generation we are, even in the future,
Urban Legends will not disappear easily.
And because of its popularity, a horror movie was made about
urban legends. In Urban Legend (1998), it was about a serial killer who uses the
method that is based on Urban Legends to kill the victims. One example is when
Brenda tried doing the “Kidney Heist” legend on Natalie. There were also two sequels
of the movie which are Urban Legends: Final Cut and Urban Legend: Bloody Mary
which is also related about serial killings, using the method of Urban Legends.
On the other hand, we also have our Urban Legends here in
Philippines. They are quite abundant and most of our local urban legends are
made to warn, and frequently used by the elders to scare their children and to
teach them a lesson. One example that has become popular in the midst of 80’s
was about The Robinson’s Half-Human and Half-Snake, living under the mall (or
the basement) which some says that there was a hidden room. It is said that
there are tons of camera hidden inside the mall and if the Snake has set an eye
to a young woman, he will just push and switch a button that will enable the
floors, or the walls to open and bring the girl to the snake for him to eat –or
just have fun. At first, the rumors spread fast and it became a controversy
that people became afraid to go shop in there, nevertheless, as the time went
by, the rumor suddenly obscured like nothing has happened but the awareness of
the people were still there, but today, even though many years have already
passed, the urban legend is still circulating not only around the people, it is
also circulated around the internet.
“Factual or not, when an urban legend is told, it’s meant to
be believed. The teller is apt to rely on skillful storytelling and/or
reference to putatively trustworthy sources – e.g., ‘it really happened to my
hairdresser’s brother’s best friend’ – in lieu of actual proof or evidence” (http://urbanlegends.about.com/cs/urbanlegends/f/urbanlegends1.htm)
B. Statement of the Problem
This
study aims to answer this question:
People are interested in Urban Legends in fact that they know that some of the myths are not real. Why?
People are interested in Urban Legends in fact that they know that some of the myths are not real. Why?
C. Significance of the Study
Enthusiasts: This research will be able to give more
information about urban legends to the enthusiasts. It will also help them
learn on what they are actually believe and give their interest to.
Future Researchers: This will help the future researchers if
they ever found this topic interesting. This study might help them to gain more
idea and information about this certain topic especially when they are given
the same task and format as we have.
Authors: This study might help them gain more knowledge if
they are interested to write something about this particular topic.
Others: This study gives information and ideas about Urban Legends
that they can use for their leisure and entertainment, as they can accumulate
ideas that they can share with their friends.
D. Scope and Delimitation
The objective of the study is to know why people still have
their interest on reading and researching about Urban Legends, despite that
they know some of the urban legends were just hoaxes. The study will discuss minor
information about Urban Legends and will only limit few examples; however, the
main focus of the study is about the way how Urban Legends gives interest and
can make other people believe a certain legend aside from it being a hoax and
can be possible that it is related to a human’s psychological manner –or if it
is because on one’s way on how to proclaim a certain legend that to make it
look credible.
E. Materials and Methods
This research will give informative and descriptive
information about Urban Legends, for the readers to have more idea about what
they are reading. It will also help them have an additional concepts and
perceptions for them to have their point of view on the topic.
The information may be based on the surveys of the
enthusiasts and non-believers as they recite their opinions about on Urban
Legends and how and why are they interested on those myths although they know
that some of them were not real. In addition, I can get further information
with the help of medium (any kinds of media) and other online resources.
F. Definition of Terms
Apocryphal – An adjective word that means questionable
authenticity or fake.
Myth – A traditional, sacred story, typically revolving
around the activities of gods and heroes, which purport to explain natural
phenomenon or cultural practice.
Folklore – The traditional beliefs, practices, of a person
that is transmitted orally.
Hoax – A humorous or malicious deception. It can be also a
false, a fake imitation and not real statement or others.
Heist – Is an action of robbing or stealing.
Legend – A non-historical or incredible story, handed down
by a tradition to the present generation.
Humorous – An act of being funny, or a one, being laughable.
Ironic – Using words to tell a meaning that is the opposite
of the real and literal meaning.
Rumor - A story or a statement that has circulated around in a certain place without a proof or a confirmation.
