Crime urban legends in Mexico: a case study of authorless narratives that contribute to implicit cultural policy

Abstract

In recent years, the boundaries of what is understood as cultural policy have been appraised and pushed. Ahearne proposed to study implicit cultural policy, which is not overt about its cultural objectives but has an impact upon culture, understood in a broader sense regarding systems of values and attitudes. Similarly, Bennett has advocated studying implicit cultural policy beyond governments, as in the case of the Catholic Church. How far can this broadening go? This paper will consider a transcultural and anonymous form of contemporary folklore, the crime urban legend, as the case study of authorless narratives that participate, among other factors, in the implicit cultural policy behind neopunitivism upon the consequences of its digital transit, which contributes to modifying different beliefs, attitudes and values on a given territory.

Keywords:

• implicit cultural policy
• narrative
• neopunitivism
• crime perception
• Mexico

Notes

1. Mexico will be considered as a Western country, not for geographical reasons, e.g. as being to the West of Europe, but for cultural reasons, as having methodically adopted since colonial times (XVI century) Western traits like language and religion, even before the United States, or more recently economic models such as neoliberalism.

Additional information

Funding

Funding. This work was supported by the Research Programme UNAM-DGAPA-PAPIIT [grant number IA400614].