Idegenek az ételünkben: kereskedelmi mondák a 20–21. század magyar sajtójában
Foreign Matter in Our Food: Mercantile Legends in the Hungarian Press of the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries

Summary/Abstract: The type of contemporary or urban legend known as the mercantile legend was first registered in the United States in the 1970s. In these stories, unsuspecting customers are shocked by animals or animal remains found in the food items bought in a shop, supermarket, or fast-food restaurant. US researchers saw in this type of story the embodiment of the common man’s opposition to the modern commercial structure, with an underlying critique of capitalism and the global economy. From the early twentieth century onwards, mercantile legends have become a regular feature in Hungarian-language press, even though the region has not always been part of free competition and market economy. However, the interest in these legends is not exclusively sparked by concerns about economic trends. They may also reflect people’s anxiety about the superficiality and negligence of large food manufacturers, the unhealthy nature of frozen or fast food, and concerns about the poor hygiene during transport and storage, which were an equally legitimate fear of the public during the socialist shortage economy too. By providing simple and reassuring answers to complex questions, urban legends are used to reduce people’s anxiety about the opaque operation of highly structured societies.

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