This is the realm of the trickster figure.
The trickster figure is often portrayed as one who lives outside the margins of society.
First, the singer identifies with the trickster's character traits through pseudo-autobiographical content in song narratives, particularly in expressing socially aggressive or unacceptable exploits.
Second, the trickster figure can be perceived as the singer's alter ego, as in songs about the boll weevil and similar folk characters.
And these devil clowns can in turn trace their ancestry to the imps and tricksters of folk performance and ritual.
This use of the trickster, along with his associated mediatory function, signifying language, and mischievous exploits, is actuated through border crossings.
Similarly, the trickster figure appears in the early blues tradition.
It is this assumption of the trickster persona and its liminal position that allows the blues musician to signify.
