Palacký University Olomouc Philosophical Faculty Department of English and American Studies English and American Literature
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1 Palacký University Olomouc Philosophical Faculty Department of English and American Studies English and American Literature Diana Adamová THE PORTRAYAL OF THE AMERICAN SOUTH IN THE VAMPIRE SERIES TRUE BLOOD AND THE VAMPIRE DIARIES ZOBRAZENÍ AMERICKÉHO JIHU V SÁGÁCH PRAVÁ KREV A UPÍŘÍ DENÍKY Ph.D. thesis / disertační práce Supervisor / vedoucí: Prof. PhDr. Marcel Arbeit, Dr. Olomouc 2016 2 Abstract This PhD. dissertation deals with the portrayal of the American South in two novel series, The Vampire Diaries by L. J. Smith and The Southern Vampire Mysteries (True Blood) by Charlaine Harris, and their television adaptations. Due to its properties, television adaptation provides more possibilities concerning portrayal of characters and development of the story. Comparative analysis of novels and adaptations is also a subject of this dissertation next to the theories of Gothic literature and adaptation. Primarily, the analysis focuses on gender and race stereotypes, homosexuality, social and political stratification as well as application of Sigmund Freud’s theories. Concerning stereotypes, the most common ones are presented, like the roles of women and men as well as prejudiced perception of African Americans or homosexuals. Stratification of a vampire and a human community depicts to what extent are both communities able to secure the basic rights and manage their members with regard to law enforcement. Further, the dissertation investigates the change in the portrayal of a vampire in literature and films, including creation, true death and powers since the novel Dracula emerged. The aim of the PhD. dissertation is to provide a broader view on literature employing vampire characters, to present southern features in the analysed novels and television series, and provide a basis for their further analysis. Abstrakt Tato dizertační práce se zabývá zobrazením amerického Jihu ve dvou románových sérií, The Vampire Diaries (Upíří deníky) autorky L J. Smith a Southern Vampire Mysteries (Pravá krev) autorky Charlaine Harris a v seriálových adaptacích zmíněných románů. Vzhledem k jejím vlastnostem, televizní adaptace poskytuje mnohé možnosti při zobrazení jejích postav a vývoje děje. Komparativní analýza románů a adaptací je také předmětem této dizertační práce spolu s teoriemi gotického románu a adaptace. Analýza se především zaměřuje na genderové a rasové stereotypy, homosexualitu, společenskou a politickou stratifikaci, jakož i teoriemi Sigmunda Freuda. Co se týče stereotypů, představeny jsou ty nejběžnější, jako role mužů a žen, stejně tak i předpojaté vnímání Afro-Američanů a homosexuálů. Stratifikace komunit zobrazuje, do jaké míry jsou obě schopny zajistit základní práva a dodržování zákonů. Dále se práce také věnuje změně zobrazení upírů v literatuře a filmu, včetně jejich stvoření, zničení a schopností od vydání románu Drákula. Cílem dizertační práce je poskytnout širší pohled na literaturu s postavami upírů, prezentovat hodnoty a typické rysy amerického Jihu v analyzovaných románech a televizních seriálech a poskytnout základ pro další možné analýzy. 3 Prohlašuji, že jsem dizertační práci vypracovala samostatně, pouze s použitím citovaných pramenů a literatury. I hereby declare that I have written this PhD. thesis by myself, using only literature and sources cited below. V Olomouci 15. prosince 2016/Olomouc, December15, 2016 Diana Adamová 4 Acknowledgements: I would like to thank my supervisor, prof. Marcel Arbeit, for his valuable comments on the content of this dissertation and his patience. Also consultations with prof. Michal Peprník concerning secondary literature provided me with invaluable impulses and inspiration for this dissertation. The same goes for dr. Michaela Weiss, my valuable colleague and friend, who contributed to the emergence of the ideas. 5 Contents: Introduction ............................................................................................................... 7 1. Vampires in Fiction and Film ............................................................................ 23 1.1 Literary Vampires in the Nineteenth Century ...................................................... 25 1.2 Anne Rice – Interview with the Vampire (1976) ............................................... 27 1.3 Poppy Z. Brite – The Lost Souls (1992) .............................................................. 29 1.4 Film and Television Adaptations ......................................................................... 33 2. Creation and True Death of a Vampire ............................................................ 40 2.1 From Shadow to Mainstream ............................................................................. 40 2.2 The Creation Myth or Life after Death .............................................................. 44 2.3 The Role of Blood .............................................................................................. 47 2.4 True Death .......................................................................................................... 50 3. Characters and Stereotypes ............................................................................... 52 3.1 Stereotypical Manners and Community Taboos ................................................. 52 3.2 Female Characters ............................................................................................... 57 3.3 Male Characters ................................................................................................... 69 4. Social and Political Status of Humans, Vampires and Other Beings .............. 81 4.1 Human versus Supernatural Families................................................................... 81 4.2 Poor Whites ..…………………………………………………………………... 93 4.3 Political System and Rights of Vampires............................................................. 96 5. Representation of Minorities ............................................................................ 110 5.1 African Americans ............................................................................................ 110 5.2 Latino People .................................................................................................... 117 5.3 Native Americans and Asian American Characters .......................................... 118 6. Sexuality or the Deepest Desires Unbound ..................................................... 122 6.1 Queering of Vampires ....................................................................................... 125 6.2 To Hide or Expose the Queer? ......................................................................... 134 6 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 143 Bibliography .......................................................................................................... 152 7 Introduction “My blood is in you. I’m with you always.”1 Godric, True Blood According to the Oxford Dictionary a vampire is “a corpse supposed to leave its grave at night to drink the blood of the living by biting their neck with long pointed canine teeth.”2 In Real Vampires, Night Stalkers and Creatures from the Darkside (2010), Brad Steiger claims that the origins of vampires date back to the ancient times, especially Babylon, where people feared the demoness Lilith, who was believed to wander the night world in search of victims for her insatiable blood lust.3 In Hebrew folklore, Lilith was Adam’s first wife, before Eve was created, but was banished from Eden and became a mother of demons known as the incubi and the succubi. The incubi in a form of handsome men seduced human women withdrawing from them their life force; and the succubi appeared to human men as tempting sensual women longing for their blood.4 In the Bible, blood drinking is forbidden by God in Leviticus 17 (10–14): “For the life of the flesh is in the blood and I have given it to you, that upon the altar you may make atonement with it for your souls . no soul of you shall eat blood . and whoever eateth it shall be cut off.”5 Because of the prohibited nature of blood-drinking, vampires were seen as an abomination, which had to be annihilated. According to Matthew Beresford in From Demons to Dracula – The Creation of the Modern Vampire Myth (2008), there are several variants of vampiric creatures in folklore, e.g., Greek “vrykolakas,” Czech and Slovak “upir,”6 Bulgarian “vampire,” Russian “uppyr,” Romanian “moroi,” Serbian “dhampir,” and Croatian 1 Alexander Woo, “Gone, Gone, Gone,” True Blood, season 5, episode 10, dir. Scott Winant, aired August 12, 2012 (Burbank, CA: Warner Home Video, 2013), DVD. 2 Oxford Dictionary, s.v. “vampire,” accessed April 17, 2016, http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/vampire. 3 For more information about Lilith see, for example, Siegmund Hurwitz, Lilith – The First Eve: Historical and Psychological Aspects of the Dark Feminine, trans. Gela Jacobson (Einsiedeln: Daimon Verlag, 1999). 4 Brad Steiger, “The Sons and Daughters of Lilith,” Real Vampires, Night Stalkers and Creatures from the Darkside (Canton, MI: Visible Ink Press, 2010), 1. 5 Quoted in Tony Thorne, “Of Burial and Blood,” in Children of the Night: Of Vampires and Vampirism (London: Indigo, 2000), 142. 6 In the Czech Language, the correct spelling is “upír.” 8 “pijavica.”7 Beresford explains that the word “vampire” comes most probably from the Slavic word “upír.”8 Tony Thorne claims that the name “vampire” was first recorded in Serbia in the 15th century,