흡혈귀와의 불편한 동거: 브램 스토커의 『드라큘라』

Abstract

Given that it has been categorized into popular fantasy literature in general and romance or the adventure fiction of fin-de-siècle with its stereotypical plot of successful elimination of alien invaders in particular,it is no wonder Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) has been suspected of itsconservatism. This paper aims to take issue with the common assumptionof Stoker having manifested unequivocal consent to every effort tomaintain the late Victorian society from what might destabilize the statusquo, ie, disarrangement of gender norm, homosexuality, and otherness/foreignness itself. Close reading of the text leads to Stoker’s tacitrecognition that the human/England/scientific civilization/heterosexualityis not so different from the monstrous Transylvania/barbaric superstition/homosexuality as it is supposed to be, since what happens inTransylvania in monstrous ways calmly repeats itself in England in mostnatural and humane ways. Furthermore, this thematic level of thenarrative is supported by the very singular narration method, known asso-called “Mina’s vampiric typewriting,” which seems to make use ofthe vampires’ way of (re)production. With these analyses, I argue thatStoker is anything but conservative, secretly showing his sympathy toward all those hidden ‘monsters’ living in the contemporary society.