Mothman, the Silver Bridge Collapse, and the Folklorization and Commemoration of Actual Events
PDF

How to Cite

Daly, J. (2023). Mothman, the Silver Bridge Collapse, and the Folklorization and Commemoration of Actual Events. Journal of Scientific Exploration, 37(1), 80-87. https://doi.org/10.31275/20232599

Abstract

By examining the songs, media, and material culture associated with the legendary monster Mothman, this paper shows how folklore can become commodified and what issues may arise as a result. By using Paredes’ theory of “folklorization” and McDowell’s concept of “commemoration,” legend scholars can track historical developments across space and time to understand the metamorphoses a legend undergoes and why. Ultimately, this paper uses the term “narrative hijacking” to describe the process in which a historical event such as the Silver Bridge collapse of 1976 is overshadowed by its association with a legend, which in this case, is the story of the Mothman.

https://doi.org/10.31275/20232599
PDF
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Copyright (c) 2023 both author and journal hold copyright