Cultural Analysis is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to investigating expressive and everyday culture. The journal features analytical research articles, but also includes notes, reviews, and cross-disciplinary responses.

As the flagship publication of the Society, JAF engages academic and public folklore from anywhere in the world through a wide range of materials, including blind peer reviewed scholarly articles, perspective pieces, featured and reviewed projects, and book reviews that engage with the broad field of folklore across academic, public, and applied works.

The Journal of Folklore Research is an international forum for current theory and research among scholars of traditional culture. Its pages include incisive examinations of vernacular or traditional expressive forms, as well as essays that address the fieldwork experience and the intellectual history of folklore and ethnomusicology studies.

Contemporary Legend, the annual journal of the International Society for Contemporary Legend Research, aims to promote and encourage research, and to provide a forum for those working in this vibrant area of traditional narrative scholarship. Within this context the term ‘legend’ is interpreted in its broadest sense as including Sagen, dites, popular rumors, sayings and beliefs as well as narrative. Similarly, ‘contemporary’ refers not only to so-called ‘modern urban legends’ but also to legends in active circulation in a given community.

The journal presents original research findings and theoretical analyses on all aspects of contemporary legend. The articles range from case studies of individual legends, historical analogues and exploration of legends in society, to analyses of performances and transmission, form, meaning and function. The journal also includes reviews, an annual bibliography covering books, essays and theses, and sections on contemporary legend in literature and in film.

An international editorial board of distinguished scholars with a wide range of interests reviews all contributions, thereby maintaining the high standard of published material.

Since 1888, the American Folklore Society has served the people and organizations engaged in understanding and advancing the field of folklore. We are proud to carry on this tradition as we face the needs of the 21st century.

Contemporary (“urban”) legends are one of the most pervasive forms of folklore in active circulation, but they are far from a modern phenomenon. The same processes of using narrative to communicate and negotiate anomalous experiences can be traced back thousands of years. Contemporary legends are contemporary to the teller and audience, not solely to the scholar. And what had been thought of as purely local narratives were found to exist in multiple manifestations throughout the world.

In order to gain a better understanding of the dynamics and function of these “contemporary” genres, scholars have recognized the need for worldwide links among legend and rumor scholars. The International Society for Contemporary Legend Research (ISCLR) encourages study of so-called “modern” and “urban” legends, and also of any legend that circulates actively. Members are especially concerned with ways in which legends merge with life: real-life analogs to legend plots, social crusades that use legends or legend-like horror stories, and search for evidence behind claims of alien abductions and mystery cats. We invite all who have an interest in these areas to join us.