Research Catalog

Title

The vampire as numinous experience : spiritual journeys with the undead in British and American literature / Beth E. McDonald.

Author

McDonald, Beth E., 1950-

Publication

Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Co., Publishers, c2004.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

vii, 200 p.; 23 cm.

Summary

"This critical work examines the vampire as a spiritual figure - whether literal or metaphorical - analyzing how the use of the vampire in literature has served to convey both a human sense of alienation from the divine and a desire to overcome that alienation. While expressing isolation, the vampire also represents the transcendent agent through which individuals and societies must confront questions about innate good, or evil, and belief in the divine and the afterlife." "Textual experiences of the numinous in the form of the vampire propel the subject on a spiritual journey involving both psychological and religious qualities. Through this journey, the reader and the main character may begin to understand the value of their existence and the divine. A variety of works, poetry and fiction by British and American authors, is discussed, with particular concentration on Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," Bram Stoker's Dracula, and Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles, as representative of the Romantic, Victorian, and late twentieth century periods of literature. A conclusion looks at the future of the literary vampire."--Jacket.

Subject

• Horror tales, English > History and criticism
• Vampires in literature
• Religion and literature > English-speaking countries
• Horror tales, American > History and criticism
• Belief and doubt in literature
• Spiritual life in literature
• Good and evil in literature
• Immortalism in literature
• Future life in literature

Genre/Form

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 187-193) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Dreadful Revelations: The Numinous and the Vampire -- Surrendering the Self: The Numinous and the Vampire in Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" -- Recreating the World: The Sacred and the Profane in Bram Stoker's Dracula -- Eros and the Thanatotic Hero: Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles -- Conclusion: Vampires for a New Age.

ISBN

0786419474 (softcover : alk. paper)

LCCN

^^2004010996

OCLC

• 55208438
• SCSB-12841607

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library