Sewer Alligators: Urban Legends as Cognitive Maps

• Main Author: Ljubomir Hristić
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Belgrade 2016-03-01
• Series: Etnoantropološki Problemi
• Online Access: http://eap-iea.org/index.php/eap/article/view/419

Following the reports of sewer alligators in the 1930s, the story has built up over the decades and become a bona fide urban legend. These (reports) are based upon stories of alligator, and other wild animal sightings in rather unorthodox locations, particularly urban enclaves. Many have questioned the extent of truth in the original stories, suggesting it to be fiction and that certain creative minds may have contributed to the tales and its variations. However, the story of the 'Sewer Gator' in New York City is paradigmatic and various versions have been told. In the following text we will not question the validity of the myth itself, but atempt to deconstruct the legend proving it to be a series of cognitive maps.