From demon to god : the evolution of the vampire in literature.

Includes bibliographical references.Vampires may be centuries-old mythological creatures, but depictions thereof abound in our modern society in literature, film, and television. The prevalence of the vampire is related to its enormous symbolic power to reflect socio-cultural conditions of society at the time of its creation, which not only determines how the vampire figure has changed within modern literary history, but also makes it possible to pinpoint certain social conditions influencing this change. The aspects of religion and capitalism, and, directly associated with this, consumerism, emerge as particularly relevant when analysing the changes of the fictional vampire, as they are both effective measures of socio-cultural circumstances and have been associated with the vampire figure - in terms of its creation, nature, and specific characteristics - in the history of mythology and literature. It is through tracing the themes of religion and capitalism within primary vampire texts at key moments in history that a greater understanding of how and why the vampire figure has changed may be gained