AHSS 2030 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Pseudohistory
16 Jun 2018
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On the Psychology of Legend
• I Basco’s discussio of the teporal diesios of folk arrative, he otes that
myths are set in the remote past while legends are set in the recent past
• image of an hourglass open at both ends
➢ hourglass would represent a true time axis and thus folktale would not be
included in it
o Folktales are outside true time
➢ myth and legend are in true time
o In terms of the hourglass image, myth would be the bottom
▪ Here one can see the value of the openendedness of the
hourglass metaphor
▪ There is no time before myth. Myth-time is the earliest
imaginable time, and it runs roughly up until the world and man
were created in their present form
▪ The time of the creation of world and man would be the middle
of the hourglass.
o Legend, as both a European folk and analytic category, is set in
postcreation time, that is, after the creation of man. Once Adam and Eve
are created (as told in a myth), their historical or pseudohistorical
adventures may be in legend form
▪ Legend is thus the upper portion of the hourglass
▪ Just as the beginning of mythtime is open-ended, however, so
the end of legend-time is openended
➢ The open-endedness is again relevant because in many cases, the action or plot
of a legend is not completed in the narrative itself, and in fact the action
continues into the present or even into the future
o Ie. The house at the end of the road is still haunted when the narrative is
over
➢ Thus whereas the action of myth is normally completed in the narrative
(although its consequences and implications may and indeed usually do
persevere), the action of a legend may never be completed
o in many of those legends whose actions are not yet completed, the sense
of immediacy may produce genuine fear or other emotion. This suggests
that legend might be much more appropriate than myth and folktale for
psychological studies
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Document Summary
I(cid:374) basco(cid:373)"s discussio(cid:374) of the te(cid:373)poral di(cid:373)e(cid:374)sio(cid:374)s of folk (cid:374)arrative, he (cid:374)otes that myths are set in the remote past while legends are set in the recent past image of an hourglass open at both ends. Hourglass would represent a true time axis and thus folktale would not be included in it: folktales are outside true time. Myth and legend are in true time. In terms of the hourglass image, myth would be the bottom: here one can see the value of the openendedness of the hourglass metaphor, there is no time before myth. Myth-time is the earliest imaginable time, and it runs roughly up until the world and man were created in their present form. The time of the creation of world and man would be the middle of the hourglass: legend, as both a european folk and analytic category, is set in postcreation time, that is, after the creation of man.
