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What Happens Next?: Contemporary Urban Legends and Popular Culture
This fascinating book uncovers the history behind urban legends and explains how the contemporary iterations of familiar fictional tales provide a window into the modern concerns―and digital advancements―of our society.
What do ghost hunting, legend tripping, and legendary monsters have in common with email hoaxes, chain letters, and horror movies? In this follow-up to Libraries Unlimited's Tales, Rumors, and Exploring Contemporary Folk Literature in Grades 7–12 , author Gail de Vos revisits popular urban legends, and examines the impact of media―online, social, and broadcast―on their current iterations.
What Happens Next? Contemporary Urban Legends and Popular Culture traces the evolution of contemporary legends from the tradition of oral storytelling to the sharing of stories on the Internet and TV. The author examines if the popularity of contemporary legends in the media has changed the form, role, and integrity of familiar legends. In addition to revisiting some of the legends highlighted in her first book, de Vos shares new tales in circulation which she sees as a direct result of technological advancements.
What do ghost hunting, legend tripping, and legendary monsters have in common with email hoaxes, chain letters, and horror movies? In this follow-up to Libraries Unlimited's Tales, Rumors, and Exploring Contemporary Folk Literature in Grades 7–12 , author Gail de Vos revisits popular urban legends, and examines the impact of media―online, social, and broadcast―on their current iterations.
What Happens Next? Contemporary Urban Legends and Popular Culture traces the evolution of contemporary legends from the tradition of oral storytelling to the sharing of stories on the Internet and TV. The author examines if the popularity of contemporary legends in the media has changed the form, role, and integrity of familiar legends. In addition to revisiting some of the legends highlighted in her first book, de Vos shares new tales in circulation which she sees as a direct result of technological advancements.
- GenresNonfictionUrban Legends
272 pages, Paperback
First published June 30, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
July 29, 2014
The author focused on "the visible evolution of the transmission of contemporary legends and the noticeable lack of fresh and new legend content...as they interest, influence and reflect young-adult audiences..."
Scholarly and straightforward, not stuffy or bogged down by jargon. Of the four books I read in 2014 about contemporary legends aka urban legends, What Happens Next? was by far the most interesting, and it also felt the most relevant and modern. Filled with analyses by theme and media appearances with dozens of references to worldwide pop culture, I could spend another three months reading this book and still find lots more to ponder and investigate.
"Contemporary legends are definitely not disappearing, even if their content has remained essentially static for some time (p.227)." Conclusion: Technology allows for faster, wider spread sharing of contemporary legends but the tales themselves are only being reworked, not invented. No new tales yet.
4 stars
Note to self: The brief glossary at the beginning of chapters two and three was helpful.
Scholarly and straightforward, not stuffy or bogged down by jargon. Of the four books I read in 2014 about contemporary legends aka urban legends, What Happens Next? was by far the most interesting, and it also felt the most relevant and modern. Filled with analyses by theme and media appearances with dozens of references to worldwide pop culture, I could spend another three months reading this book and still find lots more to ponder and investigate.
"Contemporary legends are definitely not disappearing, even if their content has remained essentially static for some time (p.227)." Conclusion: Technology allows for faster, wider spread sharing of contemporary legends but the tales themselves are only being reworked, not invented. No new tales yet.
4 stars
Note to self: The brief glossary at the beginning of chapters two and three was helpful.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review