Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses two different works of fiction set in the Arctic and contain folkloristic elements in their representation of human/polar bear relations. However, the symbolic importance of the polar bear is vastly different, reflecting the different times in which the stories are written.

Paper long abstract:

This paper discusses two Scottish works of fiction taking place in the Arctic: James Hogg’s novella The Surpassing Adventures of Allan Gordon (1837) and Helen McClory’s short story “The Companion” (2018). These two very different works of fiction both feature a polar bear that acts as a close companion to the main character of the story. Both contain folkloristic elements in their representation of human/polar bear relations, for instance through emphasising the similarity between the polar bear and the human and in suggesting that polar bears can cross worlds and be guiding spirits to humans (some of the folklore and mythology elements outlined by Lizanne Henderson 2020, pp. 252-3). However, the symbolic importance of the polar bear varies significantly between these stories, reflecting the different times in which they are written: whereas in Hogg we encounter the colonisation of the beautiful but dangerous Arctic space, showcased in the domestication of Nancy the polar bear (companion and “spouse” yet something of a threat to the human), in McClory we are confronted with the impact of human actions on the Arctic space, i.e. climate change and its effects on the natural world (a starving polar bear). Therefore, while both stories perhaps portray both the human and the animal’s “arresting ability to live with strangeness” (Sarah Moss 2007, n.p.), the message conveyed concerning human/animal relations and the Anthropocene is vastly different.