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Why we tell each other urban legends
Making sense of the city
People in 19th-century Britain used folk tales to adjust to the experience of city living. Folklore was continually updated. It expressed concerns about urban development, the threat of strangers, and a shrinking sense of community as people no longer knew one another.
In Victorian London, a tale was told about Spring-heeled Jack, a supposedly clawed, fire-breathing ghost that terrorised villages. The figure thrived in rumour. However, no person who had actually 'seen' the ghost could be found.
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SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
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Key Ideas
Old Vs New Stories
The stories in pop culture in the last century tend to be moralistic and have a clear demarcation of good and bad.
These stories have virtually the same structure of good guys fighting with...
Colour Vs Black and White
The old folktales didn't have a black-and-white narrative, and instead had nuanced characters with personality, and not necessarily morality.
In many old stories, the protagonist had a varied set of values, which were colorful and diverse.
Complex Vs Simple
The old complex storylines were not having a clear identification of what's good and what's bad. The reader had to figure out the details and the complexity which lead to endless discussions.
The modern tales provide a simplified 'colour by numbers' approach to understanding, with clear outlines as to who is the Hero with all the morals, and who is the bad guy who must be killed.
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Key Ideas
The two tales about houses
The one story we tell ourselves about homeownership is it is a path to a more stable, equitable future. The idea is that it is a responsible decision that requires commitment and hope. It is center...
Owning a suburban home
The idea of owning a suburban home was fed to Americans by people in power: Suburbia has always been suitable for industry.
Big houses = big appliances. This fed the coal, steel, and automaking industries. With it came cars and oil that made the postwar American suburb possible. It is all as much a creature of government as of the market.
Reconsidering the suburban house
The climate crisis and carbon dependency make potential homeowners reconsider the effects of suburban sprawl.
The September 11, 2001, terrorist attack and the market crash of 2008 sowed a sense of instability and propagated fears.