Literature and Culture: Vampires In Literature & Film

Catalog description

In this class we will examine closely the figure of the vampire, considering how our perceptions of this fictional character have changed to fit society's need for specific metaphors at different times in history. For example, how did the vampire come to represent disease in the aftermath of the Spanish influenza epidemic, and will we see (or have we already seen) a return of this meaning as a reaction to COVID? Monsters in fiction and film often represent our greatest societal fears. By thinking critically about a genre often relegated to "pop culture" status, we can begin to understand that any artistic production is the product of the culture from which it was created, and therefore contains within it a reflection of the values of that culture. In this class, vampires will be our "case studies" as we seek to better understand the cultures in which these stories were forged.