Vampires 2
Terms
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copy deck
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The Political Geography of
Romania during the 15th cen. -
Three parts: Wallachia (in the south),Moldavia (in the north-east) which were principalities, and Transylvania
(in the north) which was feudal cities controlled by Hungary - Historical Dracula (vagrant prince)
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Vlad Tepes (1431-1476), Transylvania/ Wallachia,
Battles with Turks,
Dracula (son of Devil/Dragon),
Impaler,Parallels—Ivan III - Violence
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Vlad’s instrument for strengthening the foundations
of his state (consolidated), imposing moral discipline on his subjects,
discouraging attacks from internal and external enemies - Vlad’s Death and Heritage
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Mystery of his death and burial Polarized posthumous reputation: as democratic and committed ruler; as unimaginably cruel tyrant;
Justice, strength, national consolidation emphasized by modern Romanians, for whom he remains a hero; the counter-image dominant elsewhere
Death, violence, brutality, mobility, monomania, contradiction—associations with his historical and mythic image - The Popularization of Dracula
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Vlad's reign coincides with discovery of printing press and a cheap method for producing paper so popular pamphlets of Drac’s attrocities printed in
Germany & France depict him as a maniacal bloodthirsty
tyrant - Myth
- sacred story, often of origins, that emerges from the unconscious mind. Symbolic, metaphorical, and orient ppl to their metaphysical dimensions
- Legends
- story bout a subject that's believed to be historical. Concern ppl/places and sub. is usu a saint, king, hereo, famous person, or war. Always assoc. w/ particular place and time
- Folktales
- pure fiction plots, no relationship with a time or place. Symbolic way of presenting the ways in which human beings cope w/ the world around them
- Medical approach to vampirism
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Porphoria: puts in coma (low pulse); bury person alive
Iron-Defeciency: sensitive to sunlight, gums receed, allergic to garlic, pale pigmentation - Vlad and Bathory: commonalities w/ vampirism
- sadisitic, torture for gain, desire for or with blood, reverse association w/ impalement
- Why the connections
- storyline basis, suck blood to regain vitality and they also gained vitality
- Nosferatu (1922)
- Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau: art historian, began making films before WWI
- German Expressionism
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(1919-1924)art must reflect the subjective reality of inner experience not any objective external reality,Reaction to perverse naturalism of late 19th C art (objective reality),
Sought to portray artist’s subjective feelings in response to objective reality,symbolism, abstraction, perceptual distortion, unsettledness, displacement in Germany after WWI, horror is within oneself, not outside! - Schauerfilme
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films of fantasy and horror,
horrific plots, expressionistic décor,theme: human soul in search of itself - Expressionism in film
- camera angles, lighting (contrasts deep shadows/ hyper-lit surfaces), and editing rather than production design,involve viewer in the landscape of the characters' minds, exaggerated acting
- Nosferatura: Depth of composition
- action sharply in focus in foreground, middleground, and background simultaneously
- Nosferatu: Composition in depth
- cool effect in the funeral shot near the end—the long procession of coffins
- Nosferatu deviations
- Orlok/Nosferatu is repsonsible for plague, set in Germany, real- estate agent (Thomas Hutter) is bit
- What is the same
- Expansion, Thomas's experience at the castle is similiar to Jonathan Harkers, coffins filled with native soil are brought to Germany
- Orlok as centerpiece of film
- portrayed as tall and looming to evoke sense of fear and power, the way he hunches over and his unsettling hand gestures dehumanize him, as well as his ability to fanish and reappear, has a rat face and moves in fast surging movements
- Nosferatu: how is the professor of biology relevant to vampirism
- he studies carnivorous insects which relate to vampirism in that they too penetrate and have a disire for blood
- Orlok's ominous image during the sea voyage: how is his destructive power represented
- the sea is full of waves to announce the imment arrival of the count
- how is light and shadow used the final sequence
- Nosferatu is put in the shadow when climbing the stairs to indicate the imment danger of Ellen and sexual desire
- Marist Stages
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utopia-fedualism-capitalism- communism
*monopoly is before and after "fair" capitalism - Marxist Revolution
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workers own tools so no more aristocracy
main idea: workers should rise up against aristocrats who have the tools - 1897 Englad: Fair Capitalism
- vampire rep the past which was monopoly (threatens individual liberty) while Crew of Lights is fair capitalism
- Dracula
- capitalist who wants endless accumulation, impelled to continuous growth in that to make more victims
- How Crew of Lights battles forgein capitalism
- religion (superstition/moral terms) and money(used according to justice), culture background defeats cultureless capitalist Dracula
- Quincey
- US budding capitalist, not British so vampire, also US is monopoly at time so assoc. with vampire so must die in end
- system of narratives in Dracula and Nationalism
- description/ordering of events is for British alone (no access to Van, Morris,or Drac's POV) but when Drac seems in control, Van's speeches increase and his perverse Eng dominates stage and during the hunt of Drac its a collective narrator
- What Dracula liberates and exalts
- sexual desire which attracts but frightens (ie Lucy who is beautiful but dangerous)
- Fear
- fear coincides with return of the repressed; first fear is of going mad (Harker in the castle),
- Marxist seeks conflict bwt
- historical and economical stages and social classes (how one dominates the other)
- Romanticism
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dev. late 18th cent, stresses the indefiniteness, disharmony and lack of clarity of the world, showed eschatological leanings: looks forward to doom
overiding value = unique individual - Set of oppositions:
- real/fleeting, rational/irrational,mind cannot understand the world, Napoleon/Byron
- The Romantic Hero
- opposes everything, outcast, outlaw, heroe by sword or pen, strong/mysterious personality
- "The Vampyre"
- trashed Byron in intro (basis for Lord Ruthven), focus on hereo right away (mysterious, noted for uniqueness not rank
- Structure of story
- no chapters, unity through going (leaving hometown to Greece) and coming back
- Ruthven as vampire
- narrowed eyes, very mysterious, female victims that he seduces
- Thomas Ligotti, “The Lost Art of Twilight†(1986)
- centers on vampire (insider) and see his struggle; protagonist/narrator André as a BORDER being (TWILIGHT); the view from WITHIN
- vampire and material possesions
- assoc with $/affluence (mansion) so have mobility
- "French" relatives
- full-fledged vampires, Andre's transformation is when he speaks their languages (belongs now) *this is the signaling pt he is one now
- vampire as artist
- endowed with special sense of shade,perception,and visions (preceive omnious in paintings) esp. sensitive to light and dark distinctions
- structure
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4 chapters
1st: appreaciate shades, hints of things to come, & background
2nd: more on mother/birth (creature that inhabits both worlds)
3rd: relative visit (bring disorder); killing of Aunt T breaks balance of his world
4th: vampire (lost of identity)