Living Legends

Has your cousin’s neighbor seen la llorona face to face? Was el cucuy hiding in your closet as a child? Did a young girl disappear at a baile on U.S. Military Highway 281?

These urban legends have been repeated and reinvented for ages and children are left wondering if they will ever spot la llorona crying near a resaca.

Storytelling is a popular oral tradition among families and friends, with their versions of each folk tale altered from person to person.

Tony Zavaleta, vice president for external affairs at the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College, said urban legends are diffused because spreading folklore is like playing the “telephone game.”

“Everybody has a different interpretation. You tell someone something that goes around the room (and) when it comes back to the person it’s different,” he said.

Zavaleta said a good example of diffusion is the “La Llorona” story. The underlying theme revolves around a grieving woman and a body of water.

“When you study the legend in New Mexico, it has a distinctive Native American touch. When you come to the border, it is going to be a situation with things we know. In Mexico, it will be associated with body of water,” he said.

The one thing all legends have in common is that their stories vary, Zavaleta said.

Each story serves as a cautionary tale, and a particular storyteller may change it so that they can relate to their audience.

“A family is going to change an urban legend to suit their family experience and geographical location to things family and children are familiar or not familiar with,” Zavaleta said.

Each story serves a purpose, Zavaleta said.

“Generally, legends and tales are intended to teach children law and order and social order: ‘You need to be a good little boy or girl or the devil will take you.’ Whether it has to do with honoring your father and mother, it generally has to do with imparting culture, history, and values,” he said.

Zavaleta noted that oral tradition is an important way to pass on culture.

“How will the next generation know where they are connected and who they are connected to if we don’t tell them stories about our culture?”

The Brownsville Herald encourages readers to leave their versions of “La Llorona”, “The Vanishing Hitchhiker,” “Devil at the Dance,” and more at www.brownsvilleherald.com.