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affl icted a means of understanding their diseases -c-how they came to he ill and how they
can recover ( 1997).
Another theoretical approac h that will prove crucia l in exami ning SARS
narratives is that espoused by David J. Hufford in T1,,: Terror That Comes in the Nighl:
A" Experience-Centered Study of SlIpen wIlIraf Assault Traditions . In examining the
cxi..renee of "Old Hag" narratives.' Hufford found that. contrary to what had been
previously written . the "Old Hag tradition contains elements of experience that are
independent of culture" ( 1982a. 15). In further examining previous literature on the
subject. and on other supernatural phenomena . Hufford found that research into folk
belief contained a disturbing set of assumption s. three of which he found most pernicious :
( I) That stateme nts which do not appear to allow for materialistic interpretation
may be rejected out of hand; (2) that "the folk" arc always poor obse rvers and
consi..tently confuse subjective with objective reality-a confusion which the
scholar can unravel rather easily at second hand; and (3) that informants therefore
cannot maintain mcmorates separate from legends. (1976. 73)
Because of assumptions such as this. Hufford created a new hypothesis. the "exper ience-
centered approach," which he explains as essentially following the rule that. when
collecting data. "we should suspend our disbelief and not start wondering immediately
what really happened- that is. what would he an explanation we could accept" (Hufford
1976. 73· 4). Instead. we should begin our fieldwork from the stance that the material we
are abo ut to receive is coming from "accurate observations interpreted rationally" (l 982a.
.. The "Old Hag" is the name given in Newfoundland. Canada. to a phenomenon that
typically cons ists of an individual waking sometime during the night. but finding him or
herself to be temporarily paralyzed. This is often ucccmpunied by the sen..arion of
pressure on the chest (often leading to feelings of suffocation). as well a" hallucinat ions
of supernatural beings entering the room.
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