Year of the Snake: An Analysis of the Polish Urban Legend of the Vistula Python












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            Mateusz Napiórkowski


            Abstract:
            Stories about wild and domesticated animals are among the most popular categories of urban

            modern folklore, they appear mysteriously, often following strange or scary happenings, li
            tale, created in 2018, when the molted skin of a large snake (later identified as an India
            found near the banks of the Vistula River in the suburbs of Warsaw. Owing to the extensive

            the news spread quickly throughout Poland. For obvious reasons, people wondered where the 
            Several eyewitnesses, who could see the predator (or something that resembled it), wanted 

            account. Such animals then “disappear” forever but leave their mark on pop culture. The sn
            gave rise to numerous stand-up comedy acts, amateur music videos, and a comic book. This s
            a number of such examples, obtained from the Internet. It also focuses on the mechanisms o

            of urban legends, and their relation to fake news. One of the main questions of the articl
            why do these kinds of stories gain such wide popularity? Furthermore, the aim of the study
            the reactions of Internet users to the news about the python. The topic was commented on b

            different world and political views, so it is worth considering whether the message about 
            play an important role in the integration of Polish society, or as a just another platform
            of thoughts.


            Keywords: urban legends, modern folklore, Polish culture, Internet studies, fake news



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