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Vampires - English...

The document discusses the origins and history of vampire folklore around the world. It notes that while vampire-like creatures have existed in ancient mythologies, the modern conception of the vampire originated in 18th century Southeastern Europe. It explores historical beliefs in vampires and theories that certain medical conditions like porphyria may have contributed to vampire myths. The document also discusses how vampire bats were later integrated into vampire stories and have become associated with traditional vampire abilities despite having no connection to original European folklore.

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Laura F. Patrașcan
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126 views7 pages

Vampires - English...

The document discusses the origins and history of vampire folklore around the world. It notes that while vampire-like creatures have existed in ancient mythologies, the modern conception of the vampire originated in 18th century Southeastern Europe. It explores historical beliefs in vampires and theories that certain medical conditions like porphyria may have contributed to vampire myths. The document also discusses how vampire bats were later integrated into vampire stories and have become associated with traditional vampire abilities despite having no connection to original European folklore.

Uploaded by

Laura F. Patrașcan
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Fact or fiction?

By Patrascan Laura and Bros Malina

Vampires - myth or reality?!


Vampires are demonic creatures; they first appeared in human history and it is very strange that they are present in absolutely all cultures of the world. They are thought to be immortal and their myth, that have been persisted over six millennia, can only confirm this theory. Vampires are mythological or folkloric revenants, who subsist by feeding on the blood of the living. In folkloric tales, the undead vampires often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths in the neighbourhoods they inhabited when they were alive. They wore shrouds and were often described as bloated and of ruddy or dark countenance, markedly different from today's gaunt, pale vampire which dates from the early 1800s. Although vampiric entities have been recorded in most cultures, the term vampire was not popularised until the early 18th century, after an influx of vampire superstition into Western Europe from areas where vampire legends were frequent, such as the Balkans and Eastern Europe, although local variants were also known by different names, such asvrykolakas in Greece and strigoi in Romania. This increased level of vampire superstition in Europe led to what can only be calledmass hysteria and in some cases resulted in corpses actually being staked and people being accused of vampirism. In modern times, however, the vampire is generally held to be a fictitious entity, although belief in similar vampiric creatures such as the chupacabra still persists in some cultures. Early folkloric belief in vampires has been ascribed to the ignorance of the body's process of decomposition after death and how people in pre-industrial societies tried to rationalise this, creating the figure of the vampire to explain the mysteries of death. Porphyria was also linked with legends of vampirism in 1985 and received much media exposure, but has since been largely discredited. The charismatic and sophisticated vampire of modern fiction was born in 1819 with the publication of The Vampyre by John Polidori; the story was highly successful and arguably the most influential vampire work of the early 19th century. However, it is Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula which is remembered as the essential vampire novel and provided the basis of the modern vampire legend. The success of this book spawned a distinctive vampire genre, still popular in the 21st century, with books, films, and television shows. The vampire has since become a dominant figure in the horror genre.
Fact or fiction? Patrascan Laura Bros Malina

Fact or fiction? By Patrascan Laura and Bros Malina

The notion of vampirism has existed for millennia; cultures such as the Mesopotamians, Hebrews, Ancient Greeks, and Romans had tales of demons and spirits which are considered precursors to modern vampires. However, despite the occurrence of vampire-like creatures in these ancient civilizations, the folklore for the entity we know today as the vampire originates almost exclusively from early-18th-century southeastern Europe, when verbal traditions of many ethnic groups of the region were recorded and published. In most cases, vampires are revenants of evil beings, suicide victims, or witches, but they can also be created by a malevolent spirit possessing a corpse or by being bitten by a vampire. Belief in such legends became so pervasive that in some areas it caused mass hysteria and even public executions of people believed to be vampires.

Another type of vampires


According to the Canadian biochemist Davis Dolphin, a rare class of blood diseases transmited, in generally, inherited, -porphyria- could explain the whole mythology of vampires, from Dracula (the vampire from yesterday)

Fact or fiction?

Patrascan Laura

Bros Malina

Fact or fiction? By Patrascan Laura and Bros Malina

to Edward Cullen (the vampire of today).

What about if all these immortals are just some innocent victims of
wrong diagnosis?

Porphyria is caused by a defective metabolism of porphyrins , heme group cells , pigment in red blood cells responsible for capturing and releasing oxygen . There are 7 main types of porphyria , disorders associated with various symptoms intensity and characteristics . In those suffering from one of the types porphyrins "lonely" accumulate in various tissues , especially the skin. Small lethal bombs, they are "detonated" when they are exposed to light, by generating free radicals, which can destroy the cells of the host.... In the form of congenital erythropoietic porphyria or ``Morbidity Gunther`` , the main symptoms are the strong anemia( hence the classic pale vampire ) and phoFact or fiction? Patrascan Laura Bros Malina

Fact or fiction? By Patrascan Laura and Bros Malina

tosensitivity , perhaps I think that is the most famous of their characteristics. Indeed , the sufferer of porphyria shouldn`t ``meet`` the sunlight , because his skin will burn, favoring appearance of skin lesions containing liquid.

And the porphyrins could explain too the vampire`s aversion to garlic: some chemicals of it - like diallyl sulfone - have the effect of increasing the production of porphyrins in the body (Hmm Maybe I am a vampire-or a suffer-, because I hate the garlic!)

Fact or fiction?

Patrascan Laura

Bros Malina

Fact or fiction? By Patrascan Laura and Bros Malina

Although many cultures have stories about them, vampire bats have only recently become an integral part of the traditional vampire lore. Indeed, vampire bats were only integrated into vampire folklore when they were discovered on the South American mainland in the 16th century. Although there are no vampire bats in Europe, bats and owls have long been associated with the supernatural and omens, although mainly because of their nocturnal habits, and in modern English heraldic tradition, a bat means "Awareness of the powers of darkness and chaos".

The three species of actual vampire bats are all endemic to Latin America, and there is no evidence to suggest that they had any Old World relatives within human memory. It is therefore impossible that the folkloric vampire represents a distorted presentation or memory of the vampire bat. The bats were named after the folkloric vampire rather than vice versa; the Oxford English Dictionary records their folkloric use in English from 1734 and the zoological not until 1774. Although the vampire bat's bite is usually not harmful to a person, the bat has been known to actively feed on humans and large prey such as cattle and often leave the trademark, two-prong bite mark on its victim's skin. The literary Dracula transforms into a bat several times in the novel, and vampire bats themselves are mentioned twice in it. The 1927 stage production of Dracula followed the novel in having Dracula turn into a bat, as did the film, where Bla Lugosi would transform into a bat. The bat transformation scene would again be used by Lon Chaney Jr. in 1943's Son of Dracula.

Fact or fiction?

Patrascan Laura

Bros Malina

Fact or fiction? By Patrascan Laura and Bros Malina

In conclusion, the vampires really exists, but they are just some suffers or bats- vampire bats

Fact or fiction?

Patrascan Laura

Bros Malina

Fact or fiction? By Patrascan Laura and Bros Malina

Fact or fiction?

Patrascan Laura

Bros Malina

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