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From Fear to Fascination
A Study of the Slavic and American Vampire
by Samay Jain
Part One
In America today, we are surrounded by borrowed images. People from all over the world flock here, and bring with them a background of cultures and beliefs, filled with imagery reflecting those ideas. Often times, these elements take on a life of their own in the cauldron known as the American "melting pot," and through interaction with their new surroundings, evolve into something quite different from their original form, becoming an integral part of our culture. Perhaps one of the most fascinating figures to undergo this process is that of the vampire. With its original association with evil, disease, and death, it is surprising that this creature of the dark has garnered the appeal it has in American culture today. Indeed, our fascination with something that was once feared seems to indicate that the vampire's function in today's society is fundamentally different from that which it was originally.
To unravel the mystery of why such a change could have occurred, we must understand the nature of the transformation of the "old" vampire into what it is today. This requires us to first look at the past to establish the nature of the pre-existing vampire and then to the present to understand precisely which elements changed, contributing to its apparent transformation. It has been established that the vampire image we know today came from the English literary vampire, which has its origins in Slavic traditions. Therefore it is fundamental that vampires in past Eastern European situations be studied to establish an understanding of the vampire that existed before it was eventually introduced into American culture. In doing so, proceeding with caution is essential, for the word vampire can refer to a wide range of images and phenomena, depending on the context in which it is used. Because of this, it is often difficult to isolate what is meant by the term vampire, especially when it is applied to two different times and places, which is what must be done. Consequently, a working definition should be closely followed when calling something a vampire to ensure that equivalent concepts are being compared. Since vampires of both past and present will be examined, our definition must be one that includes and describes vampires of the Slavs, but allows us to filter out elements in today's society that are not directly comparable to the Slavic vampire.
Conceptually, the vampire can be divided into two main parts -- the image of the vampire itself, and its psychological and/or social functions. As stated earlier, the ultimate goal is to understand both past and present social roles of the vampire in order to shed light on its apparent functional transformation. In an attempt to do this, these roles will be derived from pre-existing data. Consequently, the definition of the vampire should not make any assumptions about its social role. If it were to, we would be pre-judging and/or misjudging the subject of our investigation. Instead, the definition must focus on other elements that we can find in both cultures, namely, those concerning the image itself. Focusing on the image of the vampire enables us to isolate it in both cultures for further analysis.
The definition must account for some degree of variability, since the image has changed somewhat over time, and even varies within each culture. But it must set a boundary to what can be accepted as a vampire and what cannot. Professor Jan Perkowski, a member if the University of Virginia's Slavic Department, has done extensive research concerning the Slavic vampire, and has come up with the following general definition for such creatures. A Slavic Vampire is "a reanimated corpse which returns at night to prey on the living."
Note that this definition fits our specifications quite well. It focuses on the image of the vampire, not its social function, and is specific enough to limit which beings of Slavic folklore can be included in our analysis. Furthermore, it is broad enough to allow some variation in the vampire image, so that in addition to application to vampires of the past, it can be applied as our definition of what comprises the vampire image today. In this fashion, we are assured that when deriving a social function for each image that we label a vampire, we are using truly comparable images. This is crucial, since it would not be surprising if two different images had different social functions. What is surprising is that very different social impacts are potentially implemented by the same image, namely that of the Slavic and present day American vampire. Consequently, the term vampire, henceforth, will refer to the image of a reanimated corpse which returns at night to prey on the living.
Now that we can isolate vampires across time and place by a working definition, we must find a way we can determine the social role a vampire image plays in a given society. First of all, a complete description of the account in which the vampire image appears should be documented. Such things as a description of the vampire, its activity pattern, it's origin, and how one can detect, protect, or destroy it should be included. Perkowski, in studying the Slavic Vampire, devised an outline of analysis to be applied to individual accounts of Slavic vampires, which includes these items as well as others. It can be referred to for this step, though its importance is diminished in the sense that individual testimonies are not being evaluated. Rather a general overall image event in a society is described to the fullest extent. Nonetheless, the more details concerning Perkowski's outline that can be filled (especially those listed above), the more complete our knowledge of the vampire will be. One must remember, however, the level of detail will be limited by social constraints. Our description of the vampire should be applicable to the majority of vampires in a given culture, to ascertain the image at a social level. This means that some of the elements listed above can only be referred to in the most general sense, given the great diversity of vampire accounts.
Once a description of the image is documented, we are ready to proceed with analysis. I propose that the social function of a vampire can be derived from the context in which it is presented, which I will refer to as the vampire's paradigm. Within each paradigm are two components. One is the source by which the vampire image is transmitted within the community it effects. In other words, how would a person living in a community with vampires come to know about them? By what means is news of the vampire spread? This could include but not be limited to written sources, the media, and oral transmission. The second component of the paradigm is the reason for its transmission. This includes issues such as : Why did transmission take place?, What is the motivation to state an existence of a vampire? or Was there anything notable about the situation in which the vampire was presented?
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