The Welfare Legend Tradition in Online and Off-Line Contexts

Abstract Widespread contemporary legends assumed to be “everywhere” pose distinct methodological challenges to documenting living traditions in context. Welfare legends, for example, have persisted in the United States since before the 1960s, yet no vernacular texts exist in scholarly publication. This paper examines the vernacular tradition of welfare legends in face-to-face and online contexts in order to advocate for specific methodological strategies for collecting and analyzing widespread contemporary legends; to examine the boundaries, core claims, performance contexts, and uses of welfare legends in vernacular discourse; and ultimately to suggest a more inclusive approach to the study of contemporary legends.