/Ett första utkast till rapport från Dracula-kvällen i går på Rumänska
kulturinstitutet. Skriver på engelska på det att den så småningom hamnar på
siten Europa SF, där jag brukar härbärgera mig. Påpeka gärna ev fel, eller om
något bör tiläggas. --AE/
"The True Story of Dracula"
The Romanian Cultural Institute in Stockholm often hosts interesting events. I
remember for instance their recent celebration of the 100-year anniversary of
Dadaism, whichevolved into a fascinating dadaistic "happening". And Thursday
the 20th of the darkening month of October we could hear about the "perhaps
most well-known Romanian in history", as the institute's boss Dan Shafran said
in his introduction.
We're of course speaking of Dracula...
Speaker for the eveThe lecturer of the evening was Ingmar Söhrman, professor
of Romance languages at Gothenburg University, who has just published the book
Den sanna historien om Dracula,
Mannen - myten - legenden ("The True Story of Dracula, the Man, the Myth, the
Legend", publisher Vaktel förlag, 2016, www.vaktelforlag.se/bocker/dracula.htm
).
I spoke to the professor - sipping some wine red as blood... - who told me he
became "bitten" by Dracula at the age of 17, when he stumbled upon Bram
Stoker's famous novel. He went as in a haze for days reading the book. (He also
told me he in general is rather fond of fantasy literature.) He has since spent
years researching the background of the real Dracula.
Dracula existed. Though he wasn't a vampire, he was known as a man with a
lust for blood. Or was that just Turkish propaganda? This and other questions
where discussed during his over one hour long talk.
Vlad III was born in (most likely) 1431 in Sighisoara, Trasylvania, as the
son of Vlad II, of the family Basarab, who received the title Dracul when he
became a member of the Order of the Dragon. And the son also got a title,
Dracula - the little dragon. The family ruled the principality of Walachia in
today's southern Romania, squeezed between the Turks and influences from the
Holy Roman Empire of German Nation.
Söhrman describes Dracula as the world's first bestseller! Lots of stories
were written, printed and spread about Vlad III and his ruthlessness as a ruler
- not as a vampire. It was easy in that age when Gutenberg's printing press
just had become available. He became known as Vlad Tepes (the Impaler) and is
said to in 1462 have impaled thousands of Turkish prosoners of war and let them
hang on their poles on the road towards Bucharest. It was to scare the Turkish
army and have them choose another road. At another occasion he drove a nail
through the scull of a Turkish emissary, who refused to remove his headgear, so
that he would never be able to take it off.
But many of the stories may be Turkish propaganda, according to Söhrman, And
we shouldn't forget that virtually all rulers during medieval times were rather
ruthless. It was after all before the Geneva protocol or the UN declaration of
human rights. Romanian sources on the contrary describes Vlad III as perhaps a
harsh but also very honest.
But I can't repeat
everything in the professor's often quite detailed recounts about Vlad or
Dracula. See some sources last.
However, it all didn't have anything with vampires to do until much later.
The vampire myth started to grow during the late 1700's based on folk myths
like the "strigoi" of Romania (and on certain medical conditions, eg people
sensitive to sunlight). The first influential vampire story was a Frankenstein
sibling, The Vampire from1819, by John Polidori who was in that gang with Mary
Shelley & Co in Switzerland when they took up the challenge to write a really
scary story. Numerous vampire stories followed in the 19th Century.
The most influental vampire tale if of course Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897), a
book you should read if you haven't already, surprisingly modern in it's
composition. Vlad the Impaler was with his spotty background a perfect
impersonator for the myth. Stoker actually spent quite a lot of time studying
European folklore and was quite well-informed about Vlad the Impaler (even if
he never visted Romania).
And then came the films of course, the silent "Nosferatu" (1922) and the
different exploits by Bela Lugosi ("Dracula", 1931) and Christopher Lee (Hammer
Film's version of "Dracula", 1958). In Sweden we have eg John Ajvide Lindvist
who with Let the right One In (novel 2004, filmed twice: Swedish version in
2008, a US-British version 2010) took the vampire myth to the kids of suburbia.
Let's not even go in to all the different TV series, comic books, games...
And talking of films, actress Greta Garbo commissioned a death mask of
"Nosferatu" director FW Murnau who she kept in her drawer. And thinking of it
wasn't Garbo a bit pale? And didn't she fit in that dark cloak she wore while
roaming the New York streets after she stopped filming? After sundown.
--Ahrvid Engholm
About Vlad III/Dracula/the Impaler:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire#In_modern_fiction
Origins of the vampire myth:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire#In_modern_fiction
A longer Swedish interview with Ingmar Söhrman:
https://issuu.com/universityofgothenburg/docs/gu-journalen4-2016/23
Garbo and the "Nosferatu" death mask:
http://www.garboforever.com/Owned_or_Worn_Garbos_Death_Mask.htm
--
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