Kakanien Revisited

The Kakanien Revisited web site referred to in my previous post contains some excellent articles and a bibliography (which I have previously linked to). All of them are in German, so I can only suggest that those of you who are interested in the subject and are unable to understand this language, should consider studying the language :-)

Sexualität Macht Tod: Prolegomena zu einer Literaturgeschichte des Vampirismus by Clemens Ruthner, 'sketches, how the vampire has turned from a blood-sucking ghost of (South-)Easteuropean folklore into a popular myth especially in Westeuropean literature/s and culture/s. Since there is only little scholarly work done about the vampire in German literature, this article will focus especially on texts in this language which played an important role as a "transmitter" in the cultural transfer of vampirism from the (South-)East to the West.'

It says that this paper is 'meant as the outline of an exhaustive monograph on vampirism in German literature the author is working on,' but unfortunately I can't remember having seen any mention of this promising monograph so far.

The other contributions, Der Vampir, ein Fremder? Ethnische Minderheiten im Vampirglauben Südosteuropas by Peter Mario Kreuter, "Trag mich nach Südamerika". Schauplätze der osteuropäischen Vampirliteratur des 19. Jahrhunderts und ihre Konnotationen by Christoph Augustynowicz, and Süd/Osteuropäer als Vampire: Draculas Karriere vom blutrünstigen Tyrannen zum mythischen Blutsauger. Prolegomena zu einer Literaturgeschichte des Vampirismus II by Clemens Ruthner focus on e.g. the fictional aspects of the topic.

Finally, Forschungsliteratur: Vampirismus. Kommentierte interdisziplinäre Auswahlbibliografie is a comprehensive and annotated bibliography on the subject. This bibliography was updated for the anthology Poetische Wiedergänger edited by Julia Bertschik and Christa Agnes Tuczay.