Publisher's Synopsis
This volume is the third in the 'Perspectives' series, and brings together papers presented at the International Conference on Contemporary Legend held in Sheffield in July 1985. The Sheffield meetings are designed to provide a forum in which scholars can discuss current research and exchange ideas. There is never any attempt to construct hard and fast models of legend processes or limit participants to any particular approach; rather it is the hope that the interplay of voices will expand participants' awareness of the genre, increase their familiarity with the theoretical and practical problems it presents and pave the way for a more sensitive understanding and a more subtle critique. The papers in this volume reflect these aims and approaches. Three main perspectives on contemporary legend are offered to the reader: considerations of theoretical issues; case studies on particular legends; analyses of legend and society. Among the studies of theoretical issues are W.F.H. Nicolaisen's 'German Sage and English Legend: Terminological and Conceptual Problems', and Edgar Slotkin's 'Legend Genre as a Function of Audience'. Case studies include Mark Glazer's 'The Superglue Revenge'; Maria Herrera Sobek's 'The Devil in the Discotheque'; and Sandy Hobbs and David Cornwell's 'Hunting the Monster with Iron Teeth' (from which the title of the volume is taken). Examinations of legend and society feature in Linda-May Ballard's 'Three Local Storytellers: A Perspective on the Question of Cultural Heritage', and Nancy Kammer Peters' 'Suburban/Rural Variations in the Content of Adolescent Ghost Legends'. Other contributors are Gillian Bennett, Keith Cunningham, Daniel Decotterd, Sheila Douglas, Bill Ellis, Marcia Gaudet, Marilyn Jorgensen. The volume never underplays the problems inherent in the genre. For the editors and contributors alike contemporary legends are 'Monsters with Iron Teeth'-difficult creatures, to be approached with caution and treated with respect.
