The Modern Vampire
With the emergence of such works as the Twilight saga, vampires have begun to be viewed differently than they were before. While there still exists elements of corruption and differentness, these elements come along with romance, a desire to be "corrupted," and thrill. Of course, this is not to say that the vampire of the past is no longer present today, only that it is joined by a different type of vampire. This page will address aspects of the modern vampire and specifically, how the Twilight saga has affected public perception of vampires and reformed the image of vampires in people's minds, at least for some. Of course, it should be mentioned that some elements and stories regarding the traditional vampire still exist today.
Intertextuality
How Modern Vampire Works Differ from Those of the Past
Definition
First, we will look into Chapter 1 of Richard Bauman's book, In A World of Others' Words: Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Intertextuality. Bauman states, "Whether by the attribution of literary influence, or the identification of literary sources and analogues, or the ascription of traditionality, or the allegation of plagiarism or copyright violation—or indeed, by any of a host of other ways of construing relationships among texts—the recognition that the creation of literary texts depends in significant part on the alignment of texts to prior texts and the anticipation of future texts has drawn critical—and ideological—attention to this reflexive dimension of discursive practice." In the case of the legend of the vampire, we see how texts and other forms of media have progressed the vampire genre by drawing upon previous works, thereby establishing a relationship and a basis for future growth in the genre. The establishment of such a relationship also allows for the present work to be viewed as more authentic and familiar, making it possible to introduce different concepts with greater ease and reception.
Practice
If we view the multitude of stories regarding vampires or other similar supernatural creatures as being the basis for future works, we find that there is a clear lineage with regard to the evolution of the vampire. Moving on from the folk tales and local stories of events, we come across such works as The Vampyre by John William Polidori and Dracula by Bram Stoker. These stories took the legend of the story further while also incorporating bits of local folklore and drawing importance to it, especially in The Vampyre. Further still, we still film adaptations concerning vampires that directly come as a result of previous works and stories such as the movie Dracula (1931) where Count Dracula was played by Bela Leguisi. More recently, with the Twilight saga, we see how aspects of vampires from previous works have been taken and added on to. We see how the seduction and corruption present within Polidori's and Stoker's work is transformed into romance and plays upon the emotion of love. We see how the legend of the vampire has evolved to change to fit the differences of the modern day and the past. By taking pieces of previous works about a legend (the vampire) many of the public are already somewhat familiar with, the Twilight saga is able to reform and develop the image of the vampire into its modern day representation. Of course, that is not to say that the vampire of the past does not exist in the media and works today.
The Twilight Effect
A Global Phenomenon
The Neighbor
People of all ages (mainly women), including teenagers, moms, and adults, would tell their neighbors and friends about the Twilight series. This led to a cultural phenomenon where fan groups were created and would chat about their love for the series. Although the leads of the series were higher schoolers, the combination of a well-known figure of myth and legend (the vampire), coupled with a school setting many of us are familiar with, caused the addition of romance to lead to a Twilight craze.
The Foreigner
Like many movies and books that have gained great success, the Twilight series was able to eventually reach an international audience, thereby gaining further popularity. In the case of the Twilight series, according to Claudia Buccifero, author of the book The Twilight Saga: Exploring the Global Phenomenon, the love for the series brought people of different cultures and languages together. Buccifero speaks of an experience where she was in a group of friends along with a new member who was Korean and could not speak English well. However, once the name Robert Pattinson was mentioned, the Korean woman became much more involved in the conversation.
The Reader/Watcher
Fanpire is one of the words that fans of the Twilight saga use to refer to themselves collectively. A combination of fan (or fandom) and vampire that reveals their desire to possibly be a part of the world portrayed in the books by Stephenie Meyer. Tanya Erzen, author of Fanpire: The Twilight Saga and the Women Who Love it, states regarding the Twilight mania, "I met fans on tour buses to Twilight-inspired sites; attended thousand-strong conventions; danced at a vampire ball; watched the film premiere of New Moon with four thousand primarily Mormon Twilight moms in Utah..." and much more.
The Legend Persists
Although vampires had by the 20th century largely become creatures of fantasy, urban myths about vampires continued to persist. As late as the early 20th century, some villages in Bulgaria still practiced corpse impaling. In the 1960s and ’70s a vampire was believed to haunt Highgate Cemetery in London, and in the early 21st century rumours of vampires caused uproar in Malawi and England alike.
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Eldridge, A.
Encyclopedia Britannica
