"Witness the Plesiosaurus": Geological Traces and the Loch Ness Monster Narrative

Discussions of the Loch Ness Monster, and indeed cryptozoology, the search for unknown animals in general, tend to be oriented around questions of authenticity, scientific rigor, and biological truth. This essay argues that, by considering perspectives from the history of science and literary study, we can see the image of a dinosaur survival in Loch Ness as a powerful narrative that exists in both works of fiction and sightings of the monster. The essay tracks the parallels between descriptions of Loch Ness's famous creature and figures from texts such as Bram Stoker's The Lair of the White Worm.