| IUP11/12/2009 |
Abstract:
The study of the evolution of symbols through time, focusing in on the vampire myth. How it evolved from an ugly monster to a humanized sexy figure in today’s society through media and literary works.
Key Words: Symbolism;Vampire; Popular Culture; Vlad III; Romanticism
Introduction
“In 2004, Knight Rider Newspapers reported that a dead man in a tiny Romanian village was dug up, his heart ripped out, burned to ashes, then mixed with water and drunk by relatives who had fallen ill after the man’s death”, says Bonnie Henry (Henry). Why would anyone do this? People take part in these strange rituals to ward off evil. In this case, they are fearful of the vampire, which is a symbol that often represents evil. It is difficult to believe that people still do these types of things today. It seems so primitive and ignorant compared to American society, but what has to be understood is that this is a real fear for them. The vampire is not a mythical creature that is seen in movies, but a truly terrifying creature to their culture. They believe that they are real and that they are a great danger. This, for many Americans, would be hard to believe. It would be looked upon as barbaric and ignorant, but today, people still have a very strong belief in these terrifying beings that they would go to such extremes to prevent themselves from the same fate. In many small villages throughout Romania, the legend of the vampire is still a critical part of life.
In American culture today, the vampire has evolved into an unrecognizable figure. It has morphed into a creature that is often desired today. Due to popular culture, by way of books, movies, television shows, etc, the vampire is seen differently. Throughout history the vampire has symbolized
evil and death. It was something to be feared, and in some parts of the world, it still is. But American culture sees it as a new ‘cool fad’.
Why does America have such a skewed vision of these creatures then? How did they evolve from truly terrifying to some girls boyfriend? Even though vampires aren’t as scary to us as they are to others, they still symbolize something. They symbolized evil and death in a physical form. Symbolism is key in society. It has shaped the American culture in its beliefs, customs, ideas, etc. “It is a fundamental part of human nature not only to survive and reproduce, but also to seek explanations for the mysteries of life. Because these mysteries are in fact beyond explanation, we use the language of symbolism to represent them” (Bruce-Mittford). In saying this, symbols are a part of our very existence and a part of our everyday life. Without them, we would have nothing to base our beliefs upon. It would be very difficult to communicate with one another without using symbolism in some form. Symbols can be used as illustrations, and they can be based upon a person or thing. Throughout human history, symbols have been used to represent important aspects of life.
The mold of the vampire has been twisted so much, that in today’s American popular culture it is seen as a romanticized figure. This influence occurs through entertainment, literature, and decoration. In this paper, I plan to prove that the vampire has morphed into a different symbol through looking
back on where it came from, the influences of it, and how and why it is romanticized.
Literature Review
A lot of research has been done on symbolism and the vampire. Although not much has been done on both together, it is still a well researched area and has many different aspects and opinions. Throughout my research and concerning my hypothesis, I have a few topics to touch on. This will in turn help me as a researcher and readers to understand it more thoroughly.
Symbolism is a very important aspect of life and has been since human existence. It is something that every culture and society has come in contact with and holds much history in. Symbolism is used in many aspects of culture, such as religious, mathematical, political, color, architectural, and advertizing. They are used to represent something and in many cases hold much meaning and they are evolving. For example, the swastika was originally a symbol out of ancient times. Jennifer Rosenberg informs us that, “Until the Nazis used this symbol, the swastika was used by many cultures throughout the past 3,000 years to represent life, sun, power, strength, and good luck”(Rosenburg). This side of the Swastika is often not referred to. The most popular meaning for it represents hatred, and death due to Hitler and his Nazi Regime. The misinterpretation of symbols is often times hazardous and insulting to some. Symbols can also take on a dualistic quality. John Fraim informs us that,
“As we argue, the key symbols of the modern world are the products of popular culture. But they do not simply appear and disappear through the magicians of Hollywood and Madison Avenue but rather through a series of dynamic energies. While the meanings of symbols have changed throughout history, these energies have not changed. One might suggest that they represent a type of philosophy of life, an attitude towards seeing life, rather than a structured belief system…We might say that a philosophy of symbolism involves the energies of duality, relationships and sequence or repetition” (Fraim).
In my opinion, I think that Fraim is saying that symbols aren’t cut and dry. They have various meanings by different people around the world. This relates back to Rosenburgs example above. The Swastika has a horrible meaning to the modern world to the west today, but it still has meaning of peace in India. The way in which people interpret symbolism often depends on the culture from which they come and that cultures interpretation of it.
The vampire has a long line of existence as well. Although the exact date of origin is unknown, it goes back thousands of years to the beginning of civilization or commonly known as Mesopotamia. In the time of Abraham, there was said to be a vampire woman, Lilith. She is said to have been the first wife of Adam. “However, she was demonized because she refused to obey Adam and demanded to have equal rights as her husband. Her desires were considered evil and so, her thirst for revenge is what turned her into a vampire” (Proach). It is said that Lilith’s disobeyed Adam when she wanted to be on top during sex, and his refusal to allow her to do so, because she was woman. Legends also say that Lilith took her revenge by murdering pregnant women and new born babies throughout the nights. The vampire myth was then spread orally by merchants and traders. It has always been seen as evil and death in a physical form and especially gained attention during outbreaks of the Bubonic Plague. The Black Death was thought to be brought on by God, due to sin and end of time perceptions. “People commonly believed that those who were different, unpopular, or great sinners returned from the dead” (Barber).In saying this, it was a common thought that vampires could be credited with the cause of this plague, and throughout history became a current trend. This and extreme superstition, drove people to commit dreadful acts to prevent themselves from this demonization. Many exhumations were performed, “In Eastern Europe the fear of being killed by a vampire was quite real, and the people devised ways to protect themselves from attacks. One of the sources of protection was the blood of the supposed vampire, which was baked in bread, painted on the potential victim, or even mixed with brandy and drunk” (Barber)
Culture is a learned way of life. Culture is adopted through influence of a surrounding society through learned religion, rituals, customs, language, ideas, food, music, etc. Through looking at culture, we can begin to understand what popular culture is. Popular culture also includes all of the elements listed above, but is a compilation of popular trends. For example music, movies, books, fashions, etc, that is considered part of this trend due to mass popularity, usually by the younger population. American popular culture, but culture in general is a complex system that encompasses many aspects of life throughout the world.
Each culture also has its own rendition of the vampire. For example, the Rakshasa is a vampire creature in India that is deformed and ugly and consumes the flesh of its victims. This version is very different than our western perception, but a similar concept. To western society, the vampire has many characteristics that are still well known today. They wake from the dead, suck blood, cannot come out in sunlight, are repelled by garlic and holy water, cannot come into a house uninvited, often times can morph into a bat, can be killed by a stake through the heart, etc. The list goes on and on. Most of the influence comes from Bram Stoker’s Dracula which was based on a real person who existed in Romania in the fifteenth century.
His name was Vlad III, Vlad Tepes, or Vlad Dracula. He is well known for the war against the Ottoman Turks and the vicious way in which he fought. Another name he is known as is Vlad the Impaler, because impalement was his favorite form of punishment/death. There are stories that actually tell of him eating his dinner to a forest of his impaled victims. Maybe because of his bloody and violent ways he was a prominent candidate for the fictional bloodsucking character known today as the vampire. “Five and a half centuries after his death, the Turks still equate the name Dracula with evil, and they are not referring to Bram Stokers fictional vampire…By the time he was disposed, he had killed between 40,000 and 100,000 people” (Romano). At the time of Vlad III’s birth, in the 15th century, Romania was long engaged in a ruthless war with the Ottoman Turks. Vlad Dracul, Vlad III’s father, took an oath to defend the Holy Roman Empire, which was called the Order of the Dragon. Dracula literally means “son of the dragon”. When Vlad III was very young, he was given to the Sultan of the Ottoman Turks as merely a political move by his father. After 5 years of harsh captivity, Vlad III was finally released and was put into the Turkish army. He was driven by the desire of his rightful place of heir to the Wallachian throne and by revenge. Many years of alliances and deceit, Vlad finally returned home and claimed the throne, but gruesome wars still continued, not only with the Ottoman Turks, but with Boyars from his own country. In many of his battles, he is said to be harsh with his enemies and even his own troops. After a disappointing night attack, he was furious and had some of his own men killed. “Furious at the indecisive outcome, Dracula rewarded men who had been wounded in the front of their bodies, but told any who were wounded in the back, ‘You are not a man but a woman,’ and then had them impaled” (Romano). Many years of battle followed, and Dracula was finally captured for many years and was then released. He regained his throne, but his army was weak, and he was eventually killed in battle. It is said that in Snagov, “A monastery on an island in Lake Snagov about 30 kilometers north of Bucharest where Vlad Tepes is reputed to be buried. The only problem is that an excavation in the 1930s failed to turn up a body” (Toronto Star). His death and burial are very mysterious, which plays well into the myth of his eternal existence throughout American popular culture.
Romanticism is commonly known as a literary and intellectual movement in 19th century England, following the period of Enlightenment. It stressed the importance of feelings, creativity, and expression. “Romanticism invited people to dream again, to imagine, to give in to flights of fancy, to explore the border between conscious experience and unconscious dreams and desires”(Smith). This movement allowed many authors and painters to express themselves without having to worry about conformity and accusation. During this movement, Romanticism was often portrayed in literature, music, and art. Smith points out, “Another characteristic of Romanticism, as expressed by Shelley in his Defense, was the very currency of life…,Shelley argued that: The great secret of mortals is love…and an identification of ourselves with the beautiful which exists in thought, action, or person, not our own” (Smith). The Romantic Movement was exploring our inner emotions to a degree that wasn’t once acceptable. It stresses intense emotion, experience, and expression. It was the desire for something greater.
Methods
To help prove my point in that the vampire is interpreted differently today in American popular culture than in the past, I conducted research through survey analysis. Since I did qualitative research, I asked open ended questions interviewing 8 people ranging from ages 19 to 75. I basically have 2 age groups that I interviewed. The first age group ranges from 52-75 and the second age group ranges from 19-22. The questionnaire/survey only took roughly ten minutes to complete. These surveys were anonymous, only requiring age and gender. Most of my participants came from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and from Western Pennsylvania.
Questionnaire/Survey
Age:____ Gender:____
1.) What is a Vampire?
2.) What does a Vampire Symbolize to you?
3.) Do you think Vampires are popular today?
4.) By what means have you been influenced by Vampires?
5.) Why do you think the Vampire myth has survived through time?
6.) Where did the Vampire myth originate?
7.) What do Vampires look like?
Results
In order to conduct my research, I interviewed a few random people and asked them the survey above. Comparing the older people to the younger people that were interviewed, the answers I got were related but substantially different. One of my participants, a 71 year old woman, basically said that, vampires were animals that represented evil and they originated from the devil. “The myth has only survived because of crazy people (laughter). They look like monsters with pointed ears and a big nose, with funny faces. They are ugly.”
Another one of my participants, a 21 year old female has some different answers. She believes that vampires are former human beings that live off of drinking blood for survival and they represent darkness. Twilight has made them 100% popular today through the popular culture scene. She claims that vampires have influence her because of today’s popular culture. “I view vampires differently. I think people today are drawn to their forbiddingness, darkness of nature. They are kind of like the ultimate bad boy.” This participant also continues by saying that they have survived because it’s a good story and it keeps people entertained. “Today’s vampires are pale, beautiful, human, and sexy.”
The 56 year old male that I interviewed responded by saying that, “Vampires symbolize evil and are against the basic principles of life. They symbolize the demoralizing of the soul.” He also claims that they are normal people with fangs and they suck blood and are deflected by garlic and that vampires aren’t that popular today, but were more so in the 1940’s and 1950’s when the black and white vampire movies were very popular.
My 20 year old female participant said that “vampires are someone who sucks blood, sleeps during the day and wakes at night, can morph into bats, they sleep upside down, and are cold blooded.” This sounds a lot like the classic black and white movie version. The vampire here also had some sex appeal. She also states that she has a different vision of them as well due to twilight. She sees the attractive figure, like Edward Cullen. She also answered that they symbolize the bat and evil and that the myth has survived because it is a timeless classic, like Frankenstein.
Another participant, a 75 year old female says, “Vampires suck blood and are evil spirits. They represent Halloween and evil and they cause trouble.” She also said that they survive because people allow them to because they believe, but she doesn’t. And she also includes that they are not popular today.
My 22 year old female participant says that vampires are monsters and they symbolize Halloween. She also informs me that the vampire is very popular today and she has been influenced by them because of a very interesting experience she had. “I accidentally walked into a Goth club. The people were imitating vampires. They had sharpened teeth, capes, black clothes, and nails, with chokers. They were scary.” She now envisions them as the classic Halloween appearance, but could sometimes have the Gothic look. She also believes that the vampire has survived through history due to the Stoker novel, movies and fear.
“Vampires are mythical creatures of the night. They are mans attempt to achieve immortality without God and they are popular because of the shock value. The idea of them is insulated from realities of life. They appeal to our basic nature, the sinner in us all”, says a 52 year old female participant. She also was aware that our modern day vampire comes from the legends of Vlad the Impaler from Romania. She envisions them as pointy eared and teeth with the widows peek, the classic Halloween costume.
My last participant, a 19 year old female, who is actually the daughter of the participant above, claims that, “They blood suckers with big teeth that come out at night. They symbolize evil, darkness, and are mean, except for Twilight.” She also believes that, “They are popular because of movies and books. The myth has survived because they are just like any other myth. It’s a story, legend, folktale that was passed down because people are interested in something that’s different. People are intriqued by evil. It gives them fulfillment, because its something that they can never do.”
Discussion
Throughout my research I found a trend between both groups. They have very similar ideas of vampires, but are perceived in different ways. Group 1 (older group) looks at vampires in a more evil and unacceptable entity, but group 2 (younger group) looks at them in an evil but more accepted manner. This is greatly due to the vampire evolving through popular culture, especially media. Throughout the past few years, popular culture has greatly influenced our idea of the vampire due to Anne Rice, Stephanie Myer, to name a few. These books were written and were successful in popular culture during the younger groups generation, when my older participants only had the influence of Stoker’s, Dracula. Also, in today’s popular culture, there are many movies, and television shows that portray the vampire as a romanicitzed figure, such as Twilight, New Moon, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, etc. All of these movies show that vampire as humanized and with a love story attached to it, while many years ago, the black and white vampire movies looked more like the classic Halloween version, and also earlier films portray it as an ugly creature. A couple of my younger participants claimed that they have in fact been influenced by the vampire due to popular culture, but especially be Twilight. There is almost a madness going on right now, because young girls are almost obsessed with it. Due to American popular cultures love of vampire fiction, the vampire has been romanticized so much that it is very different from its historical, and fictional origins. Through this survey we can see that it indeed has. My older participants are not nearly as influenced by it and don’t think that it is an interesting or attractive thing, but my younger generation is more prone to that idea. My older generation of participants seems to be more religious based with their answers, but that is a whole different branch of research. Although both generations have a similar idea of what the vampire is and represents, the younger generation is definitely more accepting of it and finds it interesting.
Much more research could be performed on this topic. My research could be carried on through a bigger pool of participants, but it can also be approached in a different way. Such as focusing in on religious backgrounds, race, different age groups, region, or country, etc. There is much more that can be learned, and hopefully the research that I have performed contributes to it.
Conclusion
The vampire is a well known figure, and has been throughout much of history and is ever changing,
“Vampires in pop culture have come a long way from their 19th-century roots in penny dreadful and countless film versions of Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’. They were demons, sex fiends in a deep Freudian sense, rebelling against Victorian repression in ways that gentlemen never could. They hissed at crucifixes and seduced women and men from righteousness into evil” (Remington).
Through American popular culture, the vampire has taken on a new face. “Scholars of vampire lore often say that each generation creates its own vampires, a reflection of society’s fears and values” (Dooley).It has evolved out of a grotesque, deformed being into a human. Tara Dooley also says that, “The best among them are trying to get in touch with their inner human” (Dooley). The line between monster and human is disappearing. It is now a sex symbol that is desired by many, although it still possesses the characteristics of evil and the need to kill. They are symbolizing not only death, but sex. These are two trends that will always be present within culture. The vampire is scary but intriguing and will capture audience’s hearts for a long time to come.
With understanding the origin of the American vampire myth, how it has influenced our culture, and how it has changed, we can maybe have an understanding of our own culture. This concept is present within the vampire myth, but it is present within many other aspects of American culture.
References
Bruce-Mittford, M. (1996). The Illustrated book of
signs and symbols. London: Barns & Noble.
Dooley, Tara. “Power, Money and Blood: Vampires rise again on HBO’s True Blood.”
Houston Chronicle (TX) 06/09/09, Print.
Fraim, J. (n.d.). Symbolism of popular culture:leading dynamics of brands, products and entertainment
Henry, B. (07, 10 29). The Arizona star, tucson, bonnie henry column:
vampires suck in ua students. Arizona Daily Star (Tucson, AZ,)
Proach, D. (09, 06 11). Vampires: a brief history of vampire mythology. Retrieved from
http://weuropeanhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/vampires
Remington, Alex. “Vampires Stake a Claim on Audiences’ Hearts.”
Washington Post 09/07/08, Print.
Romano, W. (03). Vlad dracula’s war on the turks.
History Reference Center, 20(4),
Rosenburg, J. (2009). The History of the swastika. Retrieved
from .http://history1900s.about.com/cs/swastika/a/swastikahistory.htm
Smith, N. (2009). Overview of romanitcism in
literature. Retrieved from http://www.articlemyriad.com/212.htm
Toronto Star, . (07, 10 27). Dracula sites. Toronto Star,
genres. Retrieved from http://www.symbolism.org/writing/books/spc/home.html
Lit Review Goal Statements
The purpose of this lit review – how will it help you? how will it help the reader? how will it differ from other sections of your overall project? The purpose of the lit review is to help the reader get a grasp on what you know about the subject. Your job is to show that you know enough about the topic to successfully write that paper and that you may be a valid source. It will differ because it is informing the reader of what has already been done and how it relates to your research. 2) Your goals for this paper – what do you hope to/will you accomplish by the end of this paper? By the end of this research paper, i hope to inform the reader on my topic and maybe in a way that they have never known about it before. Hopefully they will enjoy it and get something out of it and look at my research with interest and understanding. 3) Your target audience – who is this prepared for? Who do you hope will read this?How will you tailor your writing for this audience? This paper is prepared for those that have an interest in the subject, but is mostly designed for those of a college level and ones that often partake in popular culture. I hope that anyone who is interested will read this, but mostly people of my own age. I will tailor it to fit my audience because i am viewing the evolution of the vampire but am focusing a little more on todays shows and books because they are much more popular today.
1) The purpose of this lit review – how will it help you? how will it help the reader? how will it differ from other sections of your overall project? This lit review has helped me because now i know how informed i am on the topic. It will help the reader because i think it will give them more of a sense of what the paper is about. It will differ because i am talking about my methods and research, and for the rest of the paper, i will be sharing facts and drawing my conclusions. 2) Your goals for this paper – what do you hope to/will you accomplish by the end of this paper? I hope that i will interest some people in the topic and that i may also be more informed of my topic by the end.3) Your target audience – who is this prepared for? Who do you hope will read this?How will you tailor your writing for this audience? After writing my lit review, i still think that my audience will be more aimed at college students. Maybe by the time im done i will realize it is for a different audience, but as of write now i think that my writing level relates more to those of my age.
Intro Goal Statements
1) The purpose of this intro – how will it help you? How will it help the reader? How will it differ from other sections of your overall project; 2) your goals for this paper – what do you hope to/will you accomplish by the end of this paper? 3) Your target audience – who is this prepared for? Who do you hope will read this? How will you tailor your writing for this audience? The purpose of the intro is to set the layout for the paper. It also is used to give an idea to the reader as to what the paper is about. It helps the reader in deciding whether or not he/she wants to go on reading. This will differ from other sections because it has the main idea and takes a little from each paragraph. I hope to accomplish an understanding from how symbols represent so much and how they survive. I also hope to open people’s eyes to the subject, being vampires or whatever, and where they originate. I think it’s a good idea to know where many of your beliefs, customs, etc. come from. I hope that this reaches anyone who is interested. I probably would aim this more towards my age group because I think that I can write to their understanding more so than other levels of people. I think I will aim it more towards my age bracket because I am doing surveys on people close to my age.
After writing my introduction, I have learned that I have a lot of research to still do, and a lot of improvement that I need to make. I need to be a little more organized in my introduction so that my paper flows better. I think my introduction helps the reader because it gets them into the mindset. They also have an idea as to what the paper is about and the issues surrounding it. I think that I have gotten an idea of my goals into the minds of those who read it although I need a lot more improvement to reach them. As of right now my paper is aimed towards people of my age. My roommate read it and said that she could understand the basic idea, and that it sounds good, but I do need some improvement.
Results/Disscussion/Conclusion Goal Statements
Before you begin, write a 1-2 paragraph goal statement (on a separate sheet of paper to be stapled at the end of your paper after your references) clearly and THOROUGHLY explaining in future tense: 1) The purpose of this section – how will it help you? This section will hopefully help me in understanding my results better and maybe to ensure what my paper is really about. how will it help the reader? I think it will help the reader by letting them understand my topic more and get a clearer idea of what I am trying to prove. how will it differ from other sections of your overall project; It will differ because it’s my own research and interpretations 2) Your goals for this paper – what do you hope to/will you accomplish by the end of this paper? I hope that I will get an A lol. But I also hope that I have more of an understanding of my topic and how to write a good research paper.3) Your target audience – who is this prepared for? I think as of write now it is targeted for more of a college level audience. Who do you hope will read this?How will you tailor your writing for this audience? I hope that college students or scholars from a certain journal will read this. I will have to make sure that my paper is formatted correctly and is free of grammatical error.
1.) It has helped me by understanding my research better. I also know that I have a lot of editing to do, because I definitely have a shitty first draft, but I need to interpret my results better. I have learned that it is harder than it sounds. 2.) After writing this I hope I did my results and discussion right, although I know it needs much review. 3.) My roommate read my paper and said that it is more targeted at my age level, but could be revised to be published for more of a scholarly review. I also have some grammatical errors to take care of and I need to work on some of the flow of my paper.
