ABSTRACT
Goldstein discusses a cultural variant of a frequently transmitted legend. Studied by many scholars as an exemplary tale of contemporary life (see, for example: Dionizjusz Czubala, “Aids and Aggression: Polish Legends about HIV-infected People.” FOAFtale News 23 (1991): 1–5; Gary Alan Fine, “Welcome to the World of AIDS: Fantasies of Female Revenge.” Western Folklore 46 (1987): 192–97; Michael Goss, “AIDS: Heaven-sent Folklore.” Folklore Frontiers 5 (1987):5–10, 23–27), the story has analogues reaching back at least as far as eighteenth-century England. A recognizable variant appeared, for example, in Daniel Defoe’s Journal of the Plague Year of 1772 (see Paul Smith, “‘AIDS: Don’t Die of Ignorance’: Exploring the Cultural Context.” In A Nest of Vipers: Perspectives on Contemporary Legend V, eds. Gillian Bennett and Paul Smith. 113–41. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1990). In this essay Goldstein explores the story in one particular cultural context, and shows how the legend has been adapted to Newfoundlanders’ circumstances and sexual behavior in such a way that it not only has lessons to teach folklorists about under what circumstances legends may proliferate, but may also help health professionals to target education programs more efficiently. Goldstein is also editor of Talking AIDS, published by Memorial University of Newfoundland. This essay is reprinted from Contemporary Legend 2 (1992):23–40.
