The purpose of this essay was to compare the classic vampire narrative, Bram Stoker's Dracula, to a more contemporary vampire narrative using the first book, Twilight, in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series as a prime example.  By looking at the world of the vampire, the figure of the vampire and the interaction between the vampire and the main female characters in each respective story, the goal was to see how much the vampire narrative has evolved.  The argument was that the movement from Dracula to Twilight was from an archetypical, terrifying vampire to a more modern, sexually alluring and romantic vampire, where several aspects of terror have been removed.  What has been shown is that there are many aspects that have changed once terror is not the focal point. In addition, this essay also argued that in a classroom setting one could use a modern vampire narrative, such as Twilight, to activate pupils’ interest in vampires which would naturally segue into meaningful discussions, comparisons and analyses of the prototypical vampire narrative found in Dracula. As a result, this activity would also encourage students to read literature and explore new worlds

Esta dissertação tem como objetivo analisar a figura do vampiro na literatura como poderosa ferramenta de leitura e interpretação dos medos e angústias que afligem um determinado espaço sociocultural. Ao olhar para a evolução do vampiro literário através dos séculos dezenove, vinte e vinte e um, notamos que cada uma de suas encarnações difere dramaticamente da anterior, e no que o vampiro é reinventado, ele engaja-se num diálogo pertinente e coerente com questões de seu próprio tempo, nunca perdendo assim sua relevância. Sua existência heterogênea, explicitada na dissertação primariamente através das obras Carmilla, de Sheridan LeFanu, Dracula, de Bram Stoker, Eu Sou a Lenda, de Richard Matheson, Entrevista com o Vampiro, de Anne Rice e Fledgling, de Octavia Butler, e as diferentes questões suscitadas em cada uma dessas obras como a sexualidade, a alteridade e o hibridismo nos levarão ao entendimento de que o vampiro pode potencialmente desempenhar importante função alegórica, tornando-se um espelho da própria humanidade através da qual se sustenta / The present work aims at looking at the figure of the vampire in literature as powerful means of reading and interpreting the fears and anxieties of a specific socio-cultural space. By looking at the evolution of the literary vampire through the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries, we are able to notice that each of its incarnations dramatically differs from the previous one, and as vampires are reinvented, they engage in a coherent dialog with issues pertaining to their times, in a way that they never lose their relevance. Their heterogeneous existence, explicited in the dissertation primarily through Sheridan LeFanus Carmilla, Bram Stokers Dracula, Richard Mathesons I am Legend, Anne Rices Interview with the Vampire and Octavia Butlers Fledgling, and the different theoretical questions brought on by each of them such as sexuality, alterity and hybridity will lead us to the understanding that the vampire may potentially function as a powerful allegory as it becomes a mirror of the very humanity on which its life depends

Esta dissertação tem como objetivo analisar a figura do vampiro na literatura como poderosa ferramenta de leitura e interpretação dos medos e angústias que afligem um determinado espaço sociocultural. Ao olhar para a evolução do vampiro literário através dos séculos dezenove, vinte e vinte e um, notamos que cada uma de suas encarnações difere dramaticamente da anterior, e no que o vampiro é reinventado, ele engaja-se num diálogo pertinente e coerente com questões de seu próprio tempo, nunca perdendo assim sua relevância. Sua existência heterogênea, explicitada na dissertação primariamente através das obras Carmilla, de Sheridan LeFanu, Dracula, de Bram Stoker, Eu Sou a Lenda, de Richard Matheson, Entrevista com o Vampiro, de Anne Rice e Fledgling, de Octavia Butler, e as diferentes questões suscitadas em cada uma dessas obras como a sexualidade, a alteridade e o hibridismo nos levarão ao entendimento de que o vampiro pode potencialmente desempenhar importante função alegórica, tornando-se um espelho da própria humanidade através da qual se sustenta / The present work aims at looking at the figure of the vampire in literature as powerful means of reading and interpreting the fears and anxieties of a specific socio-cultural space. By looking at the evolution of the literary vampire through the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries, we are able to notice that each of its incarnations dramatically differs from the previous one, and as vampires are reinvented, they engage in a coherent dialog with issues pertaining to their times, in a way that they never lose their relevance. Their heterogeneous existence, explicited in the dissertation primarily through Sheridan LeFanus Carmilla, Bram Stokers Dracula, Richard Mathesons I am Legend, Anne Rices Interview with the Vampire and Octavia Butlers Fledgling, and the different theoretical questions brought on by each of them such as sexuality, alterity and hybridity will lead us to the understanding that the vampire may potentially function as a powerful allegory as it becomes a mirror of the very humanity on which its life depends