The evolution of the vampire from Stoker's Dracula to Meyer's Twilight Saga

Abstract

In their article "The Evolution of the Vampire from Stoker's Dracula to Meyer's Twilight Saga" Dijana Vučković and Ljiljana Pajović Dujović analyze the metamorphosis of the vampire character from the Victorian fin de siècle to the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer. Vučković and Pajović Dujović consider the evolution of the vampire in the context of several important changes: emergence of the vampire from the dark/death in the light/life and separation from the home soil; improving the vampire species through crossbreeding, i.e., hybridization with people; bringing the characteristics of vampires closer to very desirable human characteristics and losing those properties that make it a monster, which allows an interiorization of the vampire character. Then there is the transition of the vampire character from adult fiction into the literature for children and young people and his taking up of the role of a fairy or a fairy-tale assistant which considers a variety of fears from present conditions of growing up, maturing and specifically suggests the fear of the future. The dominant literary characters analyzed are Count Dracula by Bram Stoker and Edward Cullen from the Twilight television series who represents the new vampire character.