ABSTRACT
Rumors that dead celebrities are “really” alive, and the converse that living people are “really” dead, have been a recognized part of the contemporary legend canon since at least the late 1960s, though identified at least forty years earlier as “modern” folklore (see, for example, A.R. Wright’s Presidential Address, “The Folklore of the Past and Present.” Folk-Lore 38 [1927]: 13–39). Elvis rumors have been particularly rife and have spawned a number of popular books as well as academic articles such as the one below and Sue Bridwell Beckham’s “Death, Resurrection and Transfiguration: The Religious Folklore in Elvis Presley Shrines and Souvenirs.” International Folklore Review 5 (1987):88–95. In this essay, which represents approaches to legend as a form of popular culture, Stromberg considers continued rumors that Elvis is alive, in the light of religious imagery (consumerism as religion; celebrities as Gods). It is reprinted from the Journal of Popular Culture 24.3 (1990):11–19. Peter Stromberg’s most recent book is Language and Self-Transformation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993).
