Title Crime-victim stories : New York City's urban folklore / Eleanor Wachs

Published Bloomington : Indiana University Press, [1988] ©1988

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Description 1 online resource (xx, 138 pages) Summary Crime Victim Stories looks at the frightening world of urban violence. Eleanor Wachs analyzes stories of muggings and other crime experiences told by native New Yorkers. By using the personal-experience narrative, the author shows how these shocking stories about the danger and violence of city streets reveal attitudes toward crime, urban groups, and life in general in New York City. These true accounts, frequently embedded in social conversations, suggest ways in which city folk plan to thwart future victimization and tell how a candidate for a mugging--almost anyone--can avoid becoming a victim. These narratives reveal that two standard folklore forms, the urban legend and the shaggy dog story, are the underlying models of crime-victim stories. Oral stories about urban crime often differ from their newspaper counterparts, demonstrating the tenacity of oral tradition in a cosmopolitan environment. Readers will be surprised to learn that these horrifying, and sometimes titillating, stories are filled with stock characters such as the trickster mugger and the clever victim who try to outsmart each other. Crime Victim Stories presents oft-told tales of city life that sometimes shock, often entertain, and also enhance our understanding of daily experience in what is believed to be one of America's most dangerous cities Analysis Folklore, myths & legends Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 131-134) and index Notes Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212 MiAaHDL Print version record digitized 2014 HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve pda MiAaHDL SUBJECT Metropolitan Museum of Art gnd Subject Victims of crimes -- New York (State) -- New York -- Folklore Crime -- New York (State) -- New York -- Folklore Folklore -- New York (State) -- New York Urban folklore -- New York (State) -- New York Urban folklore Crime Folklore Victims of crimes Erlebnisbericht Verbrechensopfer New York (State) -- New York New York (N.Y.) Genre/Form Folklore Form Electronic book ISBN 9780253055606 0253055601

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