History of the vampire
How vampires chronicle societal fears
4:35 p.m. Tuesday, October 30, 2007
The constant of vampires is that they have fangs and need blood to survive. Other than that, vampires have ranged in shape, size and scariness.
Vampires represent the exotic, dangerous.
"Look at the classic Bela Lugosi vampire, Dracula," said Dr. Tom Prasch, Chair of the Department of History at Washburn University. "Dracula as long as he's in Transylvania isn't a problem. It's when he comes to London when he becomes a problem."
The social history of the vampire
- When: Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2007, 7 p.m.
- Where: Henderson Learning Resources Center , Washburn University, Topeka
- Cost: Not available
- Age limit: 14+
Vampires also reflect our changing fears and immediate concerns from one decade to the next. Vampires of the 1930s and '40s reflect a tense period between World War I and World War II.
"Society itself had all kinds of things to be afraid of: The Nazies are coming up into power, the Nazies and communists are fighting in the street, the economy is dislocated," Prasch said.
Prasch said following World War II the Dracula image becomes very Eastern European, reflecting concerns about secrecy, cults and the corruption of teenagers. It was very 1950s. In 1970s, with the emergency of blaxploitation movies, Dracula is African American, with a black nationalist message.
With the recent generation of vampires the underworld/overworld dynamic has been very strong.
If you liked this story, you might want to check out the History of the Hollywood Scream.
"That means they have their own culture existing just under the surface of ours. And that means that the danger is constant, and I think that is the product of a certain kind of temporary paranoia, especially about secrecy and foreignness and otherness," he said.
Prasch said the ideas of vampires will not go away and it shouldn't.
"Whatever we fear we can put onto our vampires. We always have the vampires that we deserve," he said.
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