Money Talks: Folklore in the Public Sphere.

This article examines “currency chains”—messages and petitions written on paper money—as folkloric expressions and rhetorical acts that critique or commend dominant American public discourse. After a general description of currency chains, it considers two categories in detail. First is the “St. Lazarus” variety that flourished in the United States in the late 1990s, having migrated from Europe. Second are political money chains that engage with a social or political order, often in protest. This article observes the condemnation of currency chains as an irrational phenomenon, and regards them as viable means for often marginalised groups to foster participation in a public sphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]