A Gothic Ecocritical Analysis of Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Date

2015-12-01

Author

Ağın, Başak

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This article extends the term “gothic ecocriticism” to encompass the study of literary texts as part of the task of bridging the great divide between the theoretical and practical dimensions of environmental thought. It illustrates an ecocritical reading of Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897), by especially focusing on its ecophobic configuration of nature and animals, as oppositional forces to the human domain. After setting a theoretical and contextual framework by explaining the origins of gothic ecocriticism and drawing a line of thought following the gothic literary tradition, the article then delves into Dracula as a site of discussion that revolves around ecophobia. Arguing that the novel is based on ecophobic feelings, such as fear of the unknown in nature, the fearsome depictions of the animals as ill-omens, and the heavy employment of other scary conventions like dark clouds, black sky, and huge mountains, the article discusses whether or not Dracula can be viewed as an illustration of queer nature. It concludes that gothic ecocriticism may familiarise the unfamiliar, and by doing so may help contribute to the development of a union between the theory and praxis of environmental thought and action. It also underlines the importance of drawing upon posthumanist endeavours for the fulfilment of a better development in the field

Subject Keywords

Bram Stoker, Dracula (1897), Gothic ecocriticism, Posthumanism, Ecophobia, Bram Stoker, Drakula (1897), Gotik ekoeleştiri, İnsan-ötesi çalışmalar, Ekofobi

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/74087

Journal

Hacettepe Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi

Collections

Department of Basic English, Article

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Citation Formats

B. Ağın, “A Gothic Ecocritical Analysis of Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” Hacettepe Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, pp. 15–24, 2015, Accessed: 00, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://hdl.handle.net/11511/74087.