Dracula and the eastern question : british and french vampire narratives of the nineteenth ...-century near east

Recent politically based works on the vampire novel have been orientated towards Irish or postcolonial contexts. In this work Matthew Gibson couches the work of M?©rim?©e, Polidori, Le Fanu, Stoker and Verne in the immediate and specific context in which their works were written - namely the right response to the Balkan, Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian politics. While tracing the views and opinions of the writers themselves, he also analyzes their works to reveal that the vampire acts as an allegory of the Near East through which they suggest (rather than avow) frequently unorthodox views, which are a challenge to critics who profess the 'orientalism' argument popular today. Although Politically Oriented Critiques Of Vampire Narratives Have Tended To Treat Them As Either Displaced Discussions Of The Irish Question Or In Terms Of Late Imperial Anxieties, Few Have As Yet Centred On The Near Eastern Settings Of These Works To See Them As Engaging With The Politics Of That Region. In This Work Matthew Gibson Eschews The Achronic Binaries Of Scholars Like Edward Said And Places The Oeuvres Of Polidori, Le Fanu, Stoker, Prosper Merimee And Jules Verne Against The Immediate And Specific Contexts In Which The Books Were Written, To Argue That They Are In Fact Concealed Allegories Of The Right Response To The Eastern Question - Namely, What To Do With The Balkan Lands Once The Ottoman Empire Finally Fell.--jacket. Introduction -- Polidori's The Vampyre And The Dangers Of Philhellenism To Italian Liberation -- J. Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla And The Austro-hungarian Ausgleich (1867) -- Bram Stoker's Dracula And The Treaty Of Berlin (1878) -- Bram Stoker's The Lady Of The Shroud And The Bosnia Crisis (1908-09) -- The Vampires Of Illyria : Nodier, Mérimée, And The French Occupation Of The Dalmatian Coast -- Jules Verne's Le Château Des Carpathes (1892) And The Romans Of Transylvania -- Conclusion -- Appendix: Translations From Mérimée's La Guzla -- Short Chronology Of Relevant Events. Matthew Gibson. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 209-216) And Index. Although politically oriented critiques of vampire narratives have tended to treat them either as displaced discussions of the Irish Question or in terms of late imperial anxieties, few have as yet centred on the Near Eastern settings of many of these works to see them as engaging with the politics of that region. In this work Matthew Gibson eschews the achronic binaries of scholars like Edward Said and places the oeuvres of Polidori, Le Fanu, Stoker, Prosper M̌rim̌e and Jules Verne against the immediate and specific contexts in which the books were written, to argue that they are in fact concealed allegories of the right response to the Eastern Question - namely, what to do with the Balkan lands once the Ottoman Empire finally fell. Aboveall, they are allegories that contradict the Liberal conformism of the surface narration, relating ideas the authors would rather suggest than openly avow. Gibson's study provides a new perspective on several major Gothic works (including, Carmilla, Dracula and The Lady of the Shroud) and will be of interest to all those working in the field of Gothic Studies This book sets the writings of Merimee, Le Fanu, Stoker and Verne in the context in which they were written - namely the response to Balkan, Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian politics. Gibson analyzes their works to reveal that the vampire acts as an allegory of the Near East through which constitutes a challenge to the 'orientalism' argument of today.