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Nosferatu (1979) (Image Source: IMDB)
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"Few creatures of the night have
captured our imagination like vampires...What
is it about the vampire myth that explains our interest?”
Vampires: the undead.
The succubi.
The bloodless
fiends.
The sexual deviants.
All of these and more are phrases that easily
come to mind when one thinks of vampires.
Vampire mythos have persisted for centuries and remain one of the most undying
and popular to ever exist.
Today’s blog
post is dedicated to the anthropology of vampirism, and topics that will be
explored include a cross-cultural comparison of vampire mythos, a discussion of
the origins of the vampire mythos, as well as the changes that have produced
our modern depictions of vampires as currently understood.
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| Artistic rendition of a BaoBahan-sith, an ancient Scottish vampire |
The existence of vampires began in ancient times with
descriptions of vampires and vampire-like creatures existing in many ancient
civilizations across the Old World.
Despite the wide geographical expanse of these stories there are several
commonalities among all the different cultural descriptions: vampires are
consistently described as reanimated corpses who have transformed into
nocturnal creatures that require the blood of the living to survive. These creatures exist in a liminal state: neither
alive nor dead they exist as a supernatural anomaly. There are, however, regional variants that
set vampires apart from each other.
Asian, Middle Eastern, and African vampires tend to be associated with
demons and demonic possession of the deceased, whereas Northwestern &
Eastern European vampires tend to be associated with moral taboos, such as
vampires originally being bastard children (e.g. children born out of wedlock)
or being the seventh son of the seventh son.
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| Artistic Rendition of a Lamia, an ancient Mediterranean vampire |
As vampire mythos can be traced to ancient times it is
believed that they were born out of a need to understand the natural world. One potential source of the vampire mythos
lies in observations of death and the dead.
After death the body goes through several natural processes that would
appear to mimic natural growth cycles that occur in life. The body seems to continue to grow hair and
finger nails, as well as expel bodily fluids such as urine, feces, and blood. These processes are actually not as they appear,
although they do occur naturally as decomposition progresses. The body does not “grow” hair and fingers
nails so much as the body begins to shrivel, causing the appearance of growth
instead of soft tissue (i.e. skin) recession.
The expulsion of bodily fluids is also caused by the withering of the
body’s internal organs that constrict and thereby cause the fluids within them
to be released. Ancient people must have
observed the natural decomposition processes of the deceased and found them perplexing
and potentially terrifying. Stories
about the dead rising may have been a way to reconcile this seemingly
impossible (to them) observations and knowledge.
"Is
it the overtones of sexual lust, power, control... Or is it a fascination with
the immortality of the undead?"
Another explanation for the vampire mythos also lies in
understanding the natural world, but this one focuses on the living and their
diseases. Several diseases have been
linked to vampirism, including but not limited to hemophilia, tuberculosis,
anemia, porphyria,
and rabies. Hemophilia is a disease that
disables the blood from clotting and causes the affected to bleed profusely at
the slightest injury. Tuberculosis is a highly
contagious bacterial disease that manifests in the lungs and causes the
affected to cough up blood. Anemia is
caused by a deficiency in red blood cells.
All of these diseases are associated with other symptoms, such as fatigue,
weakness, and fever, which would greatly affect the overall health and activity
levels of the affected and could have led the unaffected to associate these
symptoms with a supernatural creature, such as a vampire, causing these illnesses. Porphyria and rabies, however, are believed
to be more likely candidates for the origins of the vampire mythos given their
specific manifestations and symptoms.
Porphyria is a genetic condition that obstructs the manufacture of the oxygen
carrying protein in blood, heme.
Individuals with porphyria are sensitive to light, have skin lesions,
discolored teeth, compressed facial features, and extended ears. While there have been no documented cases of
porphyria patients desiring or drinking blood their overall physical appearance
may have led people to assume that they were monsters of some sort. The other contender is rabies, which is a
virus transmitted through infected saliva typically via a bite. Symptoms include distaste of water,
sleeplessness, and extreme fatigue, as well as violent behaviors. Scholars have noted historical trends of
rabies outbreaks being associated with an increase in vampire sightings, so
this disease may also be a source of the vampire mythos, if not also a reason
for its perpetuation.
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| A medieval "vampire" burial. As shown in this photo the deceased was staked through the heart as a means to deter escape from the grave. |
For all of their explanations and beliefs about vampires ancient
people also had several ways to destroy these creatures, as well. Once a vampire was identified the family of
the deceased was often tasked with examining the corpse to verify the existence
of vampirism. When verified the family
would take one or all of the following actions: they would turn the body over
in the coffin as a means of confusing the vampire who would die from digging
its way out by going in the wrong direction; they would stake the vampire,
impaling it to the coffin and rendering it unable to free itself from its
grave; and/or the body would be fully exhumed and burned. All of these means were considered sufficient
in terminating the liminal vampiric state, thereby allowing the deceased to
finally rest in peace.
"And what dark
and hidden parts of our psyche are aroused and captivated by the legends of the
undead?"
Vampire mythos began to change during the Enlightenment
Period, which is when a better understanding of science and the natural world
began to form. People started to realize
the natural forces that were at work and how interconnected the world was. Despite these scientific discoveries people
were reluctant to free themselves of their supernatural belief systems. Rather than discontinue the vampire mythos people
transformed it into newer incarnations that were more believable in the face of
science and matched the prevailing cultural norms of the day. Literary figures such as Lord Byron and John Polidori romanticized
vampires, changing them from scary and damned entities to tortured souls who
were their own worst enemies. Byron and
Polidori inspired future authors and tales, such as Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” and
Anne Rice’s “Interview With A Vampire,” that solidified the vampire as sexual,
dark, brooding creatures that remain in liminal (dead but undead) states but
are beautiful and youthful as a result.
In these ways the vampire reflected all of the forbidden desires of the
public that they wanted to indulge in but that remain forbidden. These changes in
the vampire as a creature and the mythos surrounding it may also be related
to increased contact with other cultural groups and their own mythos
about vampires as we see a mixture of elements from various mythos in
the new vampire mythos.
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| Promotional Photograph of the cast of "The Vampire Diaries", a popular television show about vampires & other supernatural creatures. |
Today, the vampire mythos remains popular.
Television shows, such as “The Vampire
Diaries”, “True Blood”, and “The Strain,” as well as hit movies, such as the “Twilight”
series, demonstrate that the vampire is far from dead but very much alive in
our hearts and imaginations.
Several of
these cinematic productions have inspired further, albeit non-vampire genre
works, as well as a debate as to which supernatural creature is better: the
vampire or the werewolf.
This alone
demonstrates the power and popularity of the vampire mythos, but what is
interesting is that many scholars note that the vampire mythos appears to be
undergoing yet another transformation of sorts.
The crazed popularity of vampires among adolescent and children is not
one that has really ever been seen, causing many to speculate as to what this
says about our current cultural norms as well as about vampires
themselves.
It will be interesting to see
how this current popularity affects and revives the vampire mythos in future
generations.
Bibliography
Atwater, C. 2000. “Living
in Death: The Evolution of Modern Vampirism.”
Anthropology of Consciousness
11: 70-77.
Godsmack. 2000. “Vampires”
(song). Awake Album.
Hansen, R. 2011. "Vampires And Disease." Calliope 22:
36.
Kulik, D; R Reed; L Bailey; S Brooks.
2004. “Vampire Legends Around the
World”. Website Created for Eng 331: Vampires on Film. Website.
Tiziani, M. 2009. “Vampires and Vampirism: Pathological Roots
of Myth.” Antrocom 5: 123-127.
Tucker, A. 2012. “The
Dark Side of Anthropology: Vampires in Popular Culture.” The
Anthropology Undergraduate Journal 1: 41-52.
