The legend is a permanent fixture of human societies. Though the legends themselves are permanent, their functions and meanings can fluctuate as the context in which they are told and retold shifts. As societies move through history, certain authoritative institutions create narratives that direct those societies and frame debates within them. Issues neglected by these institutions yet experienced by members of the population can be said to be unconstructed. Social problems that have achieved some level of construction inevitably provoke those who dissent from those constructions. In these situations, members of a society look for alternative means for talking about these problems. Often they turn to the contemporary legend for this purpose. This study reviews a sample of the most popular legends in the early part of 2012 to determine the ways members of American society were dealing with the unconstructed social problems of that time.

The theme of this thesis is the transformation of a trickster figure in the Russian children's folklore. The first part is devoted to an analysis of trickster tale and trickster heroes. This section is primarily based on classic works of prominent ethnologists, anthropologists and folklorists - they are mainly the works of Claude Lévi-Strauss, Vladimir Propp, Jeleazar Meletinskij and many others. This section is concerned mainly on the systematization and analysis of the classic characteristics of a hero trickster for subsequent analysis and comparison of the current hero of the sadistic poems - the little boy. The second part is an introduction to the themes of the sadistic poems - it is dedicated to the history of their origin; historical, cultural and social factors that had an impact on their development; systemization of the sadistic poems by topics and trends. This part is based on the works of Russian anthropologists, folklorists and psychologists. The third part of my work is dedicated to an independent comparative analysis of the nature of the protagonist of the sadistic poems - the boy as a trickster figure. The analysis is based on the classic ethnographic studies devoted to trickster tales and also on the works on the phenomenon of the sadistic poems. During this analysis, where I...

(English) Ph.D. Thesis Contemporary Legend and Rumour in the Czech Republic. Origin, Genesis and Social and Cultural Function of Domestic Urban Folklore in International Context Petr Janeček Presented study analyzes character, origin, genesis and social and cultural functions of specific type of prosaic oral narratives transmitted in contemporary oral and non-oral tradition on territory of the Czech Republic. Main attention is given to realistic narratives with primary informative and entertaining function, which are usually presented by their tellers as at least potentially real story or information about actual, genuine happenings of both local and social importance, but whose variants, versions and editions simultaneously circulate over wider geographical and temporary horizon. Because of that, these narratives are labelled by international folkloristics as folklore genres of "contemporary legend" and "rumour". After overview and critical analysis of history of international studies of these two genre concepts, their terminology and genre (both formal and thematic) characteristics in international and Czech folkloristics are presented, as well as relationship of these genres to similar contemporary folklore forms, especially gossip, conspiracy theories, anecdotes and jokes, demonological...

This thesis describes and explains rumours as sociological phenomenon. It deals with circumstances under which rumour arises, how it spreads and how it persists in society. It also deals with the prerequisites for understanding the transmission and any believing in rumour. Emphasis is placed on understanding the rumours without negative connotations which is mostly attributed to it. The theory of fictional worlds brings idea that rumour should not be always fictional, fictitious and a priori negative, but rather should be considered as possibly true, especially in terms of the phenomenon, which it refers. It does not matter how many different variations of the rumour story exist, since all create a frame of reference through which is better spread the rumour; adoption of the rumours is not a sign of fiction, but rather a prerequisite to embed among people. The thesis promotes the view that a rumour is spread mainly due to its content and message, which is mainly a warning. The aim is not to pass the exact story, but to warn about a phenomenon that occurs in society. It is not important wheather the rumour is true in each detail, because the only important aspect is truth of phenomenon which the rumour refers to. Keywords Rumour, theory of possible worlds, conspiracy theories, contemporary legend,...

This dissertation is based on my research into distinction processes (Calhoun, 1994; Cerulo 1997) between tourists and inhabitants of West Sumba in Eastern Indonesia. The imaginiaries (Castoriadis, 1987; Strauss, 2006; Lacan, 1977; Anderson, 1991; Salazar, 2012) of West Sumbanese people about foreigners also emerge from diving rumors (Bysow, 1928; Allport and Postman, 1947/1965). Their origins, dissemination, and sharpening processes, as well as their consequences will be analysed herein. This case study demonstrates how mental models of otherness are formed and reified, how they clash, and for what purposes they may be utilized. It will also analyze how imaginaries influence behavior and may lead to miscommunication in West Sumba.