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FAITH AND SUPERSTITION IN KEN FOLLETTВ’S THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH
Abstract
The purpose of the article was to highlight the aspects in which faith and superstition, or attention to the invisible world, emerged in people’s lives in medieval times as illustrated in Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth. We wanted to establish how much weight the world of the unseen bore in the Middle Ages. The scrutiny has fallen on this subject in the above-mentioned piece of literature, as this novel is one of the most prominent on medieval times in recent years and is part of academic curricula, so it was interesting to check the insights that it offers on the atmosphere of an age since it shapes the perception of young minds nowadays. Also, the book ranked very well in British tops and abroad, inspiring video and board games, not to mention a television series. To the afore-mentioned aim, we analyzed the text from the perspective of cultural and identity studies, looking for instances in which any and all types of beliefs or superstitions were manifested by people’s actions or mindsets. Then, we separated the results into: religious/dogmatic ones, distorted faith, and daily superstitions, games and sign-reading. Witchcraft was dedicated a separate section due to the complexity of this aspect. Based on the facts, we extracted the predominant outlook among medieval people with respect to the metaphysical, and concluded on the significant role that it played in their lives. More in-depth, we looked into their way of relating to the invisible – if it was a relationship of fear, love, domination, (em)power(ment), unilaterality or reciprocity, and found that the inclination was to feel dominated or subjugated, with more rare instances of viewing it as harmonious mutuality. Also, we verified the extent to which people’s beliefs were founded on the Bible and dogma, in comparison with less conventional beliefs (superstitions), and which type of teachings had more impact on their psyche. The research contributes to the decoding of the novelistic universe of Follett’s masterpiece. Particularly, it details this sphere of the supernatural and superstition. Also, it draws attention to the mysticism that permeated medieval times.
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