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David Keyworth, "Fictional Paradigms and the Evolving Vampire Subculture" The emerging Vampire subculture can be defined as a multi-faceted cultural movement with its own distinct collective community and network of participants who share a distinctive world-view, similar social customs and a unique lifestyle in accordance with their preconceived notions of vampire reality. The Vampire subculture consists of living individuals who profess to be real vampires, vampire communities of like-minded persons, donors who willingly allow vampires to partake of them, various occult-based and mystical-orientated groups that appeal to their spirituality, blood fetishists who equate blood with sex, live-action vampire role-players, and various support services that cater for the material needs of the Vampire subculture. The growth and development of the Vampire subculture has largely been fuelled by fictional paradigms presented in literature, the mass media and increasingly the Internet. In particular, contemporary vampires model themselves upon the prototype vampires and vampire lifestyle portrayed in the novels by Anne Rice such as Interview with the Vampire and the popular role-playing game, The Masquerade, rather than Bram Stoker's Dracula. In response, a counter-movement of self-professed vampire-slayers has emerged, also fashioned by fictional paradigms, which aims to suppress the activities and influence of the Vampire movement. Biography: Having completed an Arts degree with the University of New England, majoring in History and Religious Studies, I then undertook Honours at the University of Queensland upon The Socio-Religious Beliefs and Nature of the Contemporary Vampire Subculture. Presently, I am enrolled in a PhD scholarship with the University of Queensland in the School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics. My intended thesis is upon the Historical Debate, Metaphysical Speculation and Christian Explanation for Vampires and Walking-Corpses in Early Modern Europe. |
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