Original scientific paper

Vampiric dance macabre and its literary metamorphosis

Dijana Vučković ; Filozofski fakultet Univerziteta Crne Gore
Ljiljana Pajović-Dujović ; Filološki fakultet Univerziteta Crne Gore

Abstract

This century’s vampiric danse macabre of the Twilight Saga (2005–2008) by Stephanie Meyer differs significantly from the danse macabre at the times of publication of The Vampire (1819) by John Polidori and Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker. Therefore, it connotes a new pathology of individuals and society. The vampire is a deeply connotative literary hero created for the purposes of age-old mythological representation of the universe. Especially during the Middle Ages it began to be recognized as an experience of the human with the most basic knowledge of the world until the Victorian literature promoted it into a literary hero. The vampire started "performing" its literary danse macabre in the historic times (19th century) loaded with so many taboo topics. Since during his initial literary performances he "infected" society with different "viruses", the vampire acquired the role of an effective literary hero. He became an integral part of the narrative structure which tried to highlight the dark side of the human personality. His transformative power materialized through the duality of the vampire’s split persona, which became a particularly potent device of his literary existence. As a character who, not coincidentally, updates himself in the times of crisis, he got reconstructed several times during the 20th century. Thanks to his ability of transformation, the vampire character has survived the 20th century and transferred his literary force into the new millennium.

Keywords

diachronic reception of the vampire character; Dracula; literary connotations; relations between society and the individual; Twilight Saga; the uncanny

Hrčak ID:

171289

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/171289

Publication date:

12.12.2016.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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