Legends on the net by Jan Fernback, he argues that the oral cultural has been changed from past to contemporary.
He says that, orality and literacy becomes less important because of human develop the cyberspace. Today, in our society people need to use internet because we are using it everywhere and it becomes part of our culture. In addition, the author says that, oral tradition has been warning for community living. Fernaback agues that, urban legend as popular cultural texts.
Folklore can make the people keep up to date with their cultural values, mores, and ethos.In cyberspace, there are different kinds of stories that are not true, and that is calling “tale story or urban legend”. Urban legend can be stop social chaos by reducing social anxiety, and it can clarify people’s natural heritage and impacts on public imagination with folklore. Mass media is the best way which can circulate urban legends and folklore.
Urban legend and folklores are stories which can be transmitted orally, and has impact on our societies such as tainted Halloween candy. Fernback gives example of serious urban legends.For example, A child who had been poisoned by his father on Halloween and oranges in United Kingdom had been injected with mercury, and girl in school found pin inside her peanut butter cup. It is Anonymous, which means that story tellers can tell their own story in different ways, but involves the same ideas.
Moreover, in cyberspace, tales of fired rates could effect negatively in our social media. If this issue had been analyzed via e-mail or internet, people know about it so they will believe easily.For the contemporary oral cultural, Internet (such as cyberspace), electronic media is dependent on oral culture. However, writing is dependent on oral use of language which remains the primary means of human communication.
There are three different types of orality. First is the primary orality is people who expressed their thoughts without any accurate writings and second is residual orality. This is similar as primary orality but it includes writing literacy and technologies.In cyberspace, text is not a significant element in the analysis of urban legends because many people are using computer to put stories on internet, people can read them easily on internet.
Secondary orality (electronic media) which is final type of orality, has played a vital role in humankind life. Due to modern technology, people today communicate orality via cyberspace such as “Skype”. Also they communicate by writing in cyberspace (Facebook). Also, computer virus can be define as vitality because it can scamming or doing spy things on business or government.
In conclusion, Legends on the net by Fernaback discusses that how differences between oral cultural and literate culture. New community technology makes us think about our notions. People should think about who we are in the centered of social, cultural economic and political changes forward by rapid developments in global communication. This event may not be work but it should balance the entertainment of oral storytelling and legends themselves against the seriousness of the computer communication revolution.
