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The Genealogy of Bram Stoker's Dracula
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The Genealogy of Bram Stoker's Dracula
By Ahmet Anil Aygun
Genealogy of Dracula
An Evolutionary Literary Analysis of The Vampire as a Meme
- Concept of a Meme.
- The Memetic Evolution of "The Vampire" into the character "Dracula".
- Viewed through the context of Evolutionary Literary Criticism.
The Concept of a Meme
"Meme" as a Concept
- Defined as "A thought, symbol, or application transmitted from one individual to another via oral, written or visual methods...within a culture.
- A Meme "replicates itself, transforms, (and) responds to selective pressures..."
- Coined by British Evolutionary Biologist Richard Dawkins.
Richard Dawkins
- A British Evolutionary Biologist and Author.
- His 1976 book "The Selfish Gene," popularized the gene-centered view of evolution and introduced the term "meme".
Evolution of the Vampire Meme
Literary Evolutionary Theory
- The vampire is a meme in terms of evolutionary literary theory.
- Vampirism originates from the preternatural beings who consume blood as sustenance in ancient myths.
- The Victorian vampire meme embodied in the form of Dracula survived the natural selection process and evolved over.
Genetics Example
- Memes are cultural analogues to genes. A gene is the basic physical and functional unit of heredity of living organisms.
- Similarly, a meme is the fundamental mental unit of heredity of cultural ideas.
- A meme can be transferred through speech or writing.
- Writing and literature gave memes a better means of spread.
Dracula's Roots and Influence
What makes Dracula more influential than the other vampire narratives?
- Dracula was among several popular Vampire fictions during it's day.
- Dracula's embodiment of Victorian era horror allowed it to outlast it's competition.
- Dracula was more adaptable to changing times.
Other Popular Vampire Iterations
Other Vampire Iterations
- John William Polidori's Vampyre
- James Malcolm Rymer
- Thomas Peckett Prest's Varney the Vampire
Victorian Era Staple
Victorian Era Influence
- Dracula reflects the fears and anxieties of the Victorians, diminishing them from God's perfect creation to the status of a feral beast in origin.
- Darwin's evolutionary theory about the origin of the modern humans lying on the ancestral hominin was as panic-infusing for the Victorians as a vampire.
Conclusion
- Today, Stoker's Dracula is still the determinative vampire figure in its epistolary novel, theatrical play, big-screen motion picture, etc.
- Dracula is a hybrid of the preceding vampire fiction in English literature, and it proved
- to be a successful vampire strain in evolutionary terms.
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