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Avec Dracula, Bram Stoker a Donné Au Mythe Du Vampire Sa Dimension Définitive

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Avec Dracula, Bram Stoker a Donné Au Mythe Du Vampire Sa Dimension Définitive Dracula ou la genèse d’un mythe littéraire Marie-Cécile Rat-Cadars CERES TR1 mars 2020 « Avec Dracula, Bram Stoker a donné au mythe du vampire sa dimension définitive. Il en a fixé l’archétype auquel il est désormais impossible de ne pas se référer : pour l’imiter, le contester ou le renouveler. » 1 Cette intervention se tient alors que Dacre Stoker, arrière-petit neveu de Bram Stoker et J-D Barker ont écrit Dracul, traduit et paru en France fin 2018 sous le titre Dracula, Les origines, préquel du roman de Dracula, inspiré de pages inédites du journal de l’auteur et supposé raconter la Genèse du roman mais aussi l’histoire de Stoker lui-même. Dans mes recherches actuelles, je voudrais donner du sens aux origines du mythique personnage Dracula. Pour cela, au fil de mes lectures, j’ai dégagé plusieurs axes dont j’ai vérifié la crédibilité et j’en ai retenu 7. 1. L’indigestion de Bram 2. La lecture de The land beyond the forest d’Emily Gerard et les 26 ouvrages consultés par l’auteur à la Marsh’s Library et à la London Library 3. Vlad Tepes Drakul 4. Les amitiés de Stoker avec Irving et Vambery 5. Les mythologies, croyances et légendes 6. La porphyrie 7. Jack l’Eventreur et La Golden Dawn Certaines pistes seront peut-être abandonnées car menant à une impasse, notamment la dernière qui, en l’absence de sources fiables et disponibles, s’avère plus spéculative qu’effective, d’autres parce que n’apportant rien de significatif ni de nouveau. A l’heure actuelle, je travaille conjointement sur la démarche créatrice de Bram Stoker et l’origine chronologique et historique du vampire puisqu’il semble que l’auteur ait œuvré de la sorte ! 1- La légende Pour justifier les horreurs écrites dans le roman de son père, la légende dit que l’un de ses fils a prétexté une indigestion au crabe qui aurait occasionné un affreux cauchemar que Stoker ne serait parvenu à exorciser qu’en l’écrivant/ Or, les 10 années de préparation du roman tendent à invalider cette écriture pulsionnelle et cathartique. De même que le nombre considérable d’articles, d’ouvrages, de conférences que Stoker a utilisé pour concevoir son roman. Nous le verrons ultérieurement, contrairement aux auteurs gothiques qui usaient principalement de leur imagination et de schémas narratifs préconçus du genre, Stoker a cédé à la mode du document dans une volonté d’ancrer son œuvre dans une logique quasi naturaliste. C’est d’ailleurs dans cette optique qu’il écrit dans la préface originale et écartée de 1 LACASSIN, F., Vampires de Paris, Paris, union générale d’édition, 1981, p.14 1 la première édition que Dacre Stoker a récemment retrouvé : « Je suis convaincu, sans le moindre doute, que les événements ici relatés, si incroyable au premier abord, se sont réellement déroulés. » Pour faire croire que tout était vrai il a donc utilisé des sources scientifiques nombreuses, sérieuses et variées et écrit non pas un roman linéaire mais un écrit morcelé ou les points de vue se croisent et s’éclairent mutuellement : lettres, articles de journaux, extrait de journaux intimes, rapports médicaux… 2- La lecture de The land beyond the forest d’Emily Gerard et les 26 ouvrages consultés par l’auteur à la Marsh’s Library et à la London Library Les carnets de Bram Stoker indiquent qu’il a compulsé et résumé 32 ouvrages pour documenter son roman. Cela sans compter les informations moins scientifiques ou les autres plus secrètes recueillies dans les milieux occultes. Parmi les livres empruntés, sur lesquels Stoker a écrit, on trouve The book of were-wolves de Sabine Baring-Gould, mais il va délaisser cette idée, notant que les loups-garous n’ont aucun pouvoir en dehors de leur bestialité. Et comme il voulait un personnage cruel, immortel et extrêmement puissant, il a rapidement balayé le lycanthrope de la liste des possibles. On trouve également, Transylvania de Charles Boner, qu’il va annoter, dont il va marquer de nombreuses pages et qui va grandement lui servir, notamment pour donner la couleur locale des premiers chapitres, avant le voyage du Comte à Londres. Il note, au chapitre « Wallachia and Moldavia » le nom d’un Voïvode valaque, DRACULA mais il ne le retiendra pas tout de suite. A la bibliothèque il consulte et prend de nombreuses notes sur Necromancy-Divination of the dead de Thomas Browne et s’intéresse au mystère de la mort et des revenants. On a dit que le roman devait également beaucoup à Emily Gerard et son libre The land beyond the forest (1888) et aux chapitres consacrés aux superstitions et croyances de Transylvanie et des Carpates C’est dans cet ouvrage que Stoker rencontre pour la première fois le Nosferatu, cette créature inconnue ou presque des Britanniques, ce vampire « qui vit après la mort, et continue à aspirer le sang d'autres personnes innocentes jusqu'à ce que son esprit ait été exorcisé en ouvrant la tombe de la personne suspectée, et en conduisant un pieu à travers le cadavre ou dans des cas très obstinés de vampirisme, il est recommandé de couper la tête et la replacer dans le cercueil avec la bouche remplie d'ail. » Il est aussi certain que Stoker a lu et apprécié Carmilla de Sheridan Le Fanu, un autre Irlandais talentueux et épris de vampirisme, et Le Vampire de Polidori. Ces deux sources auraient contribué à faire de Dracula un aristocrate et non pas un homme du peuple comme la plupart des vampires des légendes d’Europe de l’est. Enfin, on sait de source sûre puisque Stoker le mentionne explicitement dans ces notes préparatoires, qu’il a beaucoup appris des manifestations vampiriques par le biais des rapports de Dom Augustin Calmet pour Louis XVI au sujet des contagions de vampires en Europe. Pour ce qui est de la genèse, on sait que les connaissances de Stoker sur la Transylvanie n’est que livresque : il n’est jamais allé sur place mais s’est si bien documenté que, notamment la description 2 géographique du col de Borgo est rigoureusement exacte. Pour autant, aucune source n’atteste que le vrai Voïvode Dracula ait habité ni même voyagé de ce côté des Carpates. On peut donc en conclure que la piste documentaire et spécifiquement livresque est indubitable dans la genèse du roman. D’ailleurs c’est par les livres que Stoker a connu le prince Valaque qui l’a inspiré. Mais là encore, il faut distinguer le faux du vrai, la source de la fiction même si au chapitre XVIII, dans son journal Mina Harker écrit : « Notre ennemi doit être, sans doute, le voïvode Dracula, qui a gagné son surnom pendant la guerre contre les Turcs qu'il alla porter de l'autre côté du grand fleuve, sur le territoire turc lui-même. » 3- Vlad Tepes Drakul Celui que nous prenons pour un tyran sanguinaire et cruel est pour les Roumains, un héros national, que l’on pourrait comparer à Jeanne d'Arc ou à Charles Martel. Un grand guerrier, qui n’hésitait pas à faire couler le sang des ennemis de la nation pour garder à son peuple la liberté et la dignité. En Europe, la confusion entre deux seigneurs valaques a engendré une créature monstrueuse et Dracula repose justement sur cet être hybride composé du père Vlad Dracul - "dragon", "diable", ou "pieu" selon qu'on privilégie l'étymologie latine (draco) ou vieille-slave (dr'kol) ; et le fils, Vlad Tepes, dit l’Empaleur". Pour les éléments historiques, les travaux de l’historien roumain Matei Cazacu2 sont d’une grande richesse et pour résumer, Vlad, né en 1431 à Sighisoara, passe une bonne partie de son enfance à la cour du sultan ottoman, où il est retenu en otage. Il parvient à s’échapper en 1448, reprend le trône de son père quelques temps mais est renversé. Sous la protection du roi hongrois Jean Hunyadi, qui a bouté les Turcs hors de Belgrade en 1456, il se remet à la lutte. Vlad anéantit les villages turcs et bulgares, torture, viole, brûle et surtout empale jusqu'à 25 000 adversaires. Cela lui assure une réputation de souverain sans scrupule. Vlad Tepes meurt au combat ou assassiné en 1476. Ces faits de guerre ont subi, comme souvent à cette époque, un grandissement épique et une surenchère de cruauté et de violence qui ont fait passer Vlad du statut de héros à celui de tyran assoiffé de sang. Cette légende noire a fait de lui un être cruel, un justicier sans limite, un héros national, un ennemi redouté mais à aucun moment un vampire, même si les chroniques de Brodoc, dès 1462 font courir dans toute l’Europe la rumeur qui prétend que Vald aime prendre son déjeuner devant les suppliciés du pal pourrissant au soleil et qu’il va même jusqu’à tremper son pain dans leur sang pour agrémenter son repas… Au début du XIXe siècle, cette thèse a été relancée par la publication en allemand des Histoires de la Moldavie et de la Valachie de Johann Christian Engel, qui présente Vlad Tepes comme un tyran sanguinaire. De là à ce que la légende en fasse un vampire, il n’y a qu’un pas que Stoker franchit allègrement. 4- Les amitiés de Stoker avec Irving et Vambery Dans les années 1880, une vague d’immigration d’Europe de l’Est vers l’Angleterre fait connaître et propage le folklore et la culture de cette zone jusque là inconnue des Occidentaux. La plupart des migrants d’Europe orientale s’installent dans l’East End et précisément à Whitechapel où les loyers 2 CAZACU, M.
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