ABSTRACT

Realistic details of legend narratives help to make folk beliefs credible, and the very presence of folk beliefs in a legend reinforces the metaphysical authority of the legend for a traditional audience. The primary arena of cultural and psychological tension that is evident in the literary rendering of supernatural folk beliefs and legends is that folk metaphysics competes with rationalism along boundaries of difference such as class, geography, imperialism, nationality, and race. Representations of shared British lore defy boundaries of class, education, and nationality in Hogg's novel. Regardless of whether or not Hogg was 'a victim' of these 'bifurcations' between 'primitive and sophisticated', in his use of fantastic folklore, Hogg erodes the pretensions of the 'sophisticated' to wholly transcend the worldview of the 'primitive' folk. Hogg establishes through his blending of fantastic folklore and realism and uses to portray multiple facets of social and political relationships.