analysing the cultural shape shifting of the vampire, past to present

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Emma Foster 1 Analysing the cultural shape shifting of the vampire, past to present. By Emma Foster CG Arts and Animation, Year 1 Monday 23 rd April 2012 2,200 Words The Time Machine- Chris Hunt

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Page 1: Analysing the Cultural Shape Shifting of the Vampire, Past to Present

Emma Foster

1

Analysing the cultural shape shifting of the

vampire, past to present.

By Emma Foster

CG Arts and Animation, Year 1

Monday 23rd April 2012

2,200 Words

The Time Machine- Chris Hunt

Page 2: Analysing the Cultural Shape Shifting of the Vampire, Past to Present

Emma Foster

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Contents

Introduction ………………………………………………………………………….3

Main Body ....………………………………………………………………………..4

Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………...8

Bibliography ……………………………………………………………………….....8

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Introduction

This assignment will analyse critically the importance and popularity that shadows

the mythological being of the vampire in that it is a cultural shape shifter from past to

present. Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ (1897) will be treated as the basis of the vampire profile

and used to discuss the change of the vampire through history. Other key sources

include Carol Margaret Davison’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula: Sucking Through the Century,

1897-1997 (1997) which will aid the exploration of Dracula in relation to the culture it was

written during, Michael Ferber’s Romanticism: a very short introduction (2010) to define

the art movement of Romanticism and Kathrin Fäller’s “And It’s All There”- Intertextual

Structures, Themes and Characters in Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” Series (2011) to

examine how far society change has impacted on the view of vampires.

The assignment will begin by defining the point in history where vampire popularity

kicked off, it will then go on to examine how vampirism came to be so popular

considering the impact of past cultural movements. A more contemporary change in

vampirism will then be regarded, finally leading on to how vampires have become

postmodern in our culture. To conclude, the assignment will strive to show just how

much impact culture has on the receiving of the vampire and why this has made them

cultural shape shifters.

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Main Body

The vampire is an important mythical being in that it has taken the world by storm

throughout media especially film and literature however; it wouldn’t be this way if it wasn’t for

Bram Stoker’s historical introduction to the concept through his novel ‘Dracula’ (1897).

Stoker’s vampire has characteristically become the archetypal perception of vampirism. A

reason for this is probably the fact that ‘Dracula’ had such an impact on the Victorian society

of its publishing. But why did it have such an impact and why does vampirism continue to

have this effect. Writer, Carol Margaret Davison, in her book Bram Stoker’s Dracula: Sucking

through the Century, 1897-1997 expresses the link between ‘Dracula’ and Victorian society.

‘Dracula is a pure product of its time, a perfectly adapted series. The traits of its principal

characters… almost constitute a caricature of Victorian ideals… In this respect, Dracula is a

book which reinforces Victorian values. But values change while writings, once published, do

not. All through the twentieth century, new interpretations of Dracula have appeared in

literature and on screen.’ (Davison, 1997:363) What Davidson appears to be saying is that

‘Dracula’ evidenced values of Victorian times and therefore, it sat in this society seamlessly.

This would allow a Victorian audience to identify with Stoker’s novel as they would be able to

recognise and be familiar with key features associated with the Victorian era. Davison goes

on to explore that a text may not be able to stay popular literature as times change. Yet she

implies that with what could suitably be called a revamp, a text or idea can return to be

popular, it just has to fit in with the times.

The popularity of Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ is significant in this idea of fitting vampirism to the

notions of time. Stoker sets his novel during typical Victorian times and so it feels real to his

similarly Victorian audience. The factual and documentary like substance of his descriptions

of people and places really create the sense in the audience that they are living during this

tale. Then, Stoker does something that really impacts on Dracula’s place in Victorian history.

He plays on an idea that puts together other Victorian ideas and really sets the tone and

response that his audience give, and that is the idea of romanticism. Author, Michael Ferber,

defines the idea of romanticism in his book Romanticism: A very short introduction.

‘Romanticism… found in a symbolic and internalized romance plot a vehicle for exploring

one’s self and its relationship to others and to nature… detranscendentalized religion by

taking God or the divine as inherent in nature or in soul and replaced theological doctrine

with metaphor and feeling… and which rebelled against the established canons of

neoclassical aesthetics and against both aristocratic and bourgeois social and political

norms in favour of values more individual, inward, and emotional.’ (Ferber, 2010:10) Ferber

tells us that times of romanticism were more about our inner core feelings and trying to break

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away from societal pressure and the norm. This is evident throughout ‘Dracula’ which was

written in a time of sexual repression and idealised viewings of females in that it throws

these ideals out and brings in the taboos. Just look at how character Dracula succeeds in

turning innocent and virtuous Lucy into a binary opposition of what was permissible. Yes in

ways this could alienate the Victorian audience because it is so shocking and scandalous

compared to what was known. However, it enlivens the Victorian male because what was

unavailable in common culture could be voyeuristically enjoyed though Dracula. Yet the

males in the story are afraid of this change and perhaps this is why it becomes so enjoyable,

the ability to get what you want but still feel you are in the society that forbids it as if you are

being rebellious. As such, the vampirism of ‘Dracula’ becomes a metaphor for the repression

Victorians faced and feeds quite literally on internal desires and emotions which is what

really mattered to these people.

However, before Stoker’s take on the vampire there was another view which rather

than feeding on internal desires conformed to societal and cultural beliefs. The medieval

periods were beset with myths and lore that impacted on how society behaved due to the

morals tales emitted. But these messages had to come from deeper ideas, even before

medieval times. Writer and archaeologist, Matthew Beresford, studies how the story of Cain

and Abel may have impacted on vampirism through these times of perfect ideals in his book

From Demons to Dracula: The Creation of the Modern Vampire Myth. ‘The folklore and

superstitions of the medieval periods… can be seen as the foundations of this modern

vampire. They themselves derived from earlier fears and obsessions with demons, spirits

and death. Indeed, a possible origin of the vampire is from the folkloric rendering of the

Christian Cain and Abel story. Cain killed his brother Abel and so was banished; he

wandered until he met Lilith… she is often depicted as killing human children and showed

Cain the life power of blood. Cain is later referred to in the New Testament as being ‘the

prototype of the wicked man’.’ (Beresford, 2008: 35) What Beresford appears to be

conveying is that with Cain’s punishment he gained blood lust through conferring with the

embodiment of what the classicism period frowned upon, Lilith the female figure who went

against perfection and sinned. This makes him the depiction of ‘the wicked man’ because he

goes against all that classicism is about when he murders and makes his own path. This can

be linked to the archetypal vampire because he is punished with immortality through being

undead and forever endures blood lust. Classicism believes in perfection and adherence to

principles, and is against romanticism by restricting internal feelings, being more down to

business. So it is right that the behaviour of Cain would be used as a moral to not sin

because it follows his internal feelings to kill his brother rather than adhering to what is

respected in society. So with the ideals of classicism in mind and the similarities between

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Cain’s behaviour and the depiction of the archetypal vampire it makes sense that the

vampirism of classical times was the act of sinning. Instead of playing on internal feelings

like the vampirism of romanticism it brainwashes into conforming to society’s politics which

was what was needed at this time, a deterrent from going against what was ‘correct’.

However, for another society the shape shifting of vampirism could be a political statement

for changing societal beliefs.

Since the arrival of Dracula and the many interpretations of it, society has changed

and each interpretation has had to accommodate this. Yet the vampire hasn’t stayed with

Dracula, instead new takes on vampirism have arrived to also accommodate change

including those which suggest statements about how we live. One example of this is author

Charlene Harris’ ‘The Southern Vampire Mysteries’ which seeks to take vampirism into

territories it has yet to set foot on. Susannah Clements, author and professor, interprets

Harris’ take on the vampire in her book The Vampire Defanged: How the Embodiment of Evil

Became a Romantic Hero. ‘Vampires and other supernatural creatures coexist as part of

human culture in Harris’s novels. But in the Southern Vampire Mysteries, this is a new

development…vampires in Harris’s novels have come “out of the coffin,” have declared

themselves in the world and have become a legally recognized minority. By understanding

vampires in the way contemporary culture understands racial or physical difference, Harris

has reenvisioned the place and nature of vampires in her fictional world, placing them in

social terms rather than in theological terms.’ (Clements, 2011:83) Clements suggests that

Harris is no longer writing about vampirism as the vampire, instead using it as a figure to get

across her beliefs on the issues of society. What Harris does is play on the traditional

romanticism of the Dracula vampire where internal emotions are more important than

societal stature and uses this vampire to symbolise the minorities of the early 2000s. By

combining these two figures she creates a highly emotive character that enables her

audience to see the issues of societal racial discrimination, immigration and equality much

more distinctly because a different racial group of humanity is still human whereas, the

vampire is already subjected to being labelled as something to show it isn’t. So already we

see the vampire as an outcast and can empathise much easier. But Harris keeps the

classical ideals of society within her world which makes her vampire all the more effective

because the romanticism and classicism eventually come together through the medium of

character Sookie supporting her point that everything should be equal. What Harris allows

her audience is the ability to think for themselves about these cultural issues though an

average character that supports elements of both worlds, an understanding that the early

2000s media did not publicise unlike society now.

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Culture now, still has a massive impact on the way persons behave but the world is

much more open to change and different beliefs. A crisis that currently floods the media is

the behaviour of teenagers which many brush off as them trying to find themselves but it is

the crisis ridden teenager that has turned to the vampire genre globally and which suggests

yet another revamp in the perception of the vampire. Kathrin Fäller, essayist, in her book

“And It’s All There”- Intertextual Structures, Themes and Characters in Stephenie Meyer’s

“Twilight” Series delves into Stephenie Meyer’s teenage vampirism approach. ‘Meyer

positions her series in the tradition and progression of contemporary vampire fiction by

adopting a perspective that does not regard the vampire as a mere outsider to what is

familiar and known. She also aspires to modernize the concept of the other perspective by

bestowing a voice to a human girl who feels not associated with other humans... With the

help of Bella Swan’s narrative voice the world is still seen through human eyes but is close

enough to the other to achieve a perspective that presents the unknown as uniquely

sympathetic.’ (Fäller, 2011:43) What Fäller appears to be saying is that Meyer takes away

the alienation vampires normally face by putting them alongside a human who feels the

same way. She enables the teenager someone who can relate with her and so does the

same with the teenage reader who keeps hold of Meyer’s novel as if it is a life line because

they finally feel understood. Twilight is a pure postmodern take on the vampire through

Meyer’s borrowing of aspects to strengthen her vampires’ voice such as the identifiable

undead and blood thirsting qualities. But she doesn’t use them in the same way, instead she

pushes them aside with Edward abstaining from his usual diet and managing to bear a child

even through not alive. And so the vampire is no longer a vampire but a metaphor for the

struggles teenagers face such as fitting in, finding love and experiencing sex for the first

time. Edward is like the subconscious of Bella and together the characters represent the

teenage reader’s self struggle.

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Conclusion

In closing, the vampire has taken on many different interpretations throughout history

and it is clearly an element of societal ideals that affects how vampirism shape shifts. A

typical vampire has to adapt to new times due to their curse of immortality but this is exactly

what we do to fit in. So it makes sense that vampirism is metaphorical for our own journeys

through life. In Victorian times we needed escapism from sexual repression, in medieval

times, a lesson to stay on society’s ideal path but now we just need to be able to be

ourselves, so it makes sense that the vampire is more human than ever because we are in

times where the want for pure humanity is at its strongest.

Bibliography

Beresford, Matthew. (2008) From Demons to Dracula: The Creation of the Modern Vampire

Myth. London. Reaktion Books. (Accessed 22/04/2012)

Clements, Susannah. (2011) The Vampire Defanged: How the Embodiment of Evil Became

a Romantic Hero. U.S.A. Brazos Press. (Accessed 22/04/2012)

Davison, Carol Margaret. (1997) Bram Stoker’s Dracula: Sucking Through the Century,

1897-1997. Canada. Dundurn Press Ltd. (Accessed 22/04/2012)

Fäller, Kathrin. (2011) “And It’s All There”- Intertextual Structures, Themes and Characters in

Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” Series. Germany. GRIN Verlag. (Accessed 22/04/2012)

Ferber, Michael. (2010) Romanticism: a very short introduction. U.K. Oxford University

Press. (Accessed 22/04/2012)