• Home
  1. Home
  2. Sullied Blood, Semen and Skin: Vampires and the Spectre of Miscegenation
Scientific article
OA Policy
English

Sullied Blood, Semen and Skin: Vampires and the Spectre of Miscegenation

Contributors

Frohreich, Kimberly

Published in

Gothic studies, vol. 15, no. 1, p. 33-43

Publication date

2013

Abstract

This article explores the trend in contemporary vampire media to highlight racially-charged issues, demonstrating a consciousness of the way the vampire has been used in conjunction with racial stigmatisation. While the traditional figure of the vampire spoke strongly to late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century white American fears of miscegenation, I argue that some contemporary vampire narratives, such as Blade (1998), Underworld (2003), and True Blood (2008-), rewrite the figure in order to question and/or undo the link between ‘monstrosity' and racial otherness. Central to this task is not only the repositioning and characterisation of the vampire, but also ̶ considering that the female body was once perceived as the locus for racial purity ̶ that of the heroine.

Keywords

  • Blood
  • Semen
  • Skin
  • Vampires
  • Underworld
  • True Blood
  • Blade
  • Race
  • Miscegenation
  • Disease
  • Hybridity

UNIGE affiliation entities

Citation (ISO format)

FROHREICH, Kimberly. Sullied Blood, Semen and Skin: Vampires and the Spectre of Miscegenation. In: Gothic studies, 2013, vol. 15, n° 1, p. 33–43. doi: 10.7227/gs.15.1.4

Main files (1)

Article (Published version)

Identifiers

Journal ISSN

1362-7937
909views
1471downloads

Technical informations

Creation

02/10/2015 15:26:00

First validation

02/10/2015 15:26:00

Update

14/03/2023 23:41:29

Status update

14/03/2023 23:41:29

Last indexation

31/10/2024 01:30:15
All rights reserved by Archive ouverte UNIGE and the University of Geneva
OpenAIRE Indexed & Validated