Graduation Term

2021

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Department of English: English Studies

Committee Chair

Brian Rejack

Abstract

This dissertation utilizes canonical vampire texts interlaced with pop-culture story-worlds and international cultural remediations to demonstrate the flexibility of the Globalgothic as a viable and valuable research lens to facilitate skills-based learning in undergraduate students by utilizing each of the four branches of the English Studies Model; literature, linguistics, rhetoric, and pedagogy. For this dissertation, I will be using the term Globalgothic as suggested by Glennis Byron. The focus of this literary lens is not merely to look at the conventions traditionally associated with the gothic genre, such as crumbling houses, a sense of foreboding, dark omens, and damsels in distress. Rather, the globalgothic gains additional meaning and context through following the trajectory of reoccurring themes and images across nationalities and through its inclusion of pop-culture remediations and iconography.This treatise begins by situating the Globalgothic within a college curriculum and examining its beneficial qualities, such as addressing its potential to draw more interest to struggling humanities programs by engaging with pop-cultural narratives surrounding the vampire archetype. It also argues that engaging with morbid materials may help students develop coping mechanisms against real-life stressors. The study then undertakes a linguistic analysis of the name Dracula by examining its global trajectory; shedding light on its Latin roots, Bram Stoker’s usage of the name, and its application in the novel’s Turkish transcultural adaptation, Kazikli Voivode, by Ali Rıza Seyfi. Findings highlight Stoker and Seyfi’s use of language and names as cultural identifiers, such as displaying a character’s societal position and to what extent they are likely to be embraced by a given population or to be shunned as a foreign intrusion. Next, the research centers on the visual semiotics of Dracula’s appearance across mediums and its evolution from the novel to a cross-culturally recognized standardization. It explores the hexagon-shaped military medal added in the 1931 Universal film and its semiotic relationships to Judaism, Buddhism, and the Muslim faith. Finally, the dissertation makes clear the pedagogical applications of the globalgothic lens through its findings based on a classroom study of student engagement concerning key cultural concepts and provides recommendations for course innovations including changes in assigned texts, lesson plans, and assessment tools.

Access Type

Dissertation-Open Access

DOI

https://doi.org/10.30707/ETD2021.20210719070603176551.73

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