Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. Series IV: Philology and Cultural Studies

Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. Series IV: Philology and Cultural Studies https://webbut.unitbv.ro/index.php/Series_IV <h2>General Infomation</h2> The Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. Series IV: Philology and Cultural Studies is an academic journal, specialized in publishing scientific papers in the fields of Language, Literary, and Cultural Studies. The authors are both Romanian and foreign scholars who have made a contribution in these fields. The journal uses academic standards – MLA style of reference, double-blind peer-review, and language reviews. The journal has both a printed and electronic full version, also offering an online archive of abstracts. The main language of the journal is English but since 2009, a series of articles written in French and German have also been accepted. All abstracts and keywords are written in English. <h2> </h2> <h2>Aim</h2> The journal aims to offer an efficient framework of analysis as well as of communication between Romanian and international research in the field of Humanities. It also sets a series of high academic standards (by the peer-reviewing process, specialized scientific committee, English language abstracts, and articles), supporting the connections between Romanian research in the field of Linguistics, Literature, Cultural Studies, and the international mainstream academic publishing. The journal is <a href="http://www.cncs-nrc.ro/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/categorii.Reviste.Site_.CNCS_.2020.pdf">Category B</a> according to the Romanian National Research Council evaluation and is currently indexed in four international databases: <a href="https://www.ebscohost.com/titleLists/a9h-journals.htm">EBSCO</a>, <a href="http://www.ceeol.com/search/journal-detail?id=442">CEEOL</a>, <a href="https://search.crossref.org/search/works?q=Bulletin+of+the+Transilvania+University+of+Brasov.+Series+IV%3A+Philology+and+Cultural+Studies&from_ui=yes">Crossref</a> and <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/bulletin-of-the-transilvania-university-of-brasov-series-iv-philology-cultural-studies/oclc/997425764?referer=di&ht=edition">WorldCat</a>. <a href="http://webbut.unitbv.ro/index.php/Series_IV/about" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Read more</a> Old Site Use this <a title="Series_IV" href="http://webbut2.unitbv.ro/Bulletin/Series%20IV/Series%20IV.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LINK </a>to access the content of the old Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. Series IV: Philology and Cultural Studies journal site! Transilvania University Press en-US Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. Series IV: Philology and Cultural Studies 2066-768X Exploring the Route to Castle Dracula. A Reply to Paul Murray and Brian Coffey https://webbut.unitbv.ro/index.php/Series_IV/article/view/9708 In December 2023, an article by Stoker biographer Paul Murray challenged my findings about the location of the fictitious Castle Dracula, known from Bram Stoker’s vampire novel. In fact, Dracula contains sufficient clues to narrow down the area where the castle could be situated: the ridge of the Călimani volcanic caldera. Stoker’s preparatory notes even allow us to pin down the exact site: Mount Izvorul Călimanului. The Millerian paradigm that Stoker was “sloppy” in his research arguably does not apply to the locale of the castle; instead, it is Murray who is less precise than Stoker, and echoes errors I refuted in 2012 already. Hans Corneel De Roos Copyright (c) 2025 Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. Series IV: Philology and Cultural Studies 2025-03-28 2025-03-28 3 34 10.31926/but.pcs.2025.67.18.1.1 Blood Ties: The Intertwined First Mention of Vampires in Poetry and Fiction https://webbut.unitbv.ro/index.php/Series_IV/article/view/9710 The common understanding of how vampires entered fiction was by way of poetry; the poems romanticized the vampire which fiction later picked up on. However, this is a limited view of how vampires entered stories. An earlier mention of vampires in fiction led to the first vampire poetry, over 275 years ago. This paper investigates the first poetry to mention vampires, and how the earlier fiction directly influenced it. Brian Forrest Copyright (c) 2025 Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. Series IV: Philology and Cultural Studies 2025-03-28 2025-03-28 35 52 10.31926/but.pcs.2025.67.18.1.2 In the Shadow of Sound: The Role of Auditory Imagery in Bram Stoker’s Novel Dracula https://webbut.unitbv.ro/index.php/Series_IV/article/view/9712 This paper investigates how auditory imagery impacts the building of atmosphere in Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula. It also explores other possible functions of this literary device that can be identified in the novel, and whether this specific type of imagery is a key element in the overall construction of the story, within the framework drawn by several types of imagery encountered in the text. By examining the way in which the writer employed acoustic elements such as music, voice, and sounds of various origins in his novel, this paper studies the contribution of these elements in the creation of the Gothic and supernatural atmosphere and mood in the novel. Moreover, it investigates whether auditory imagery influences the psychological experiences of the characters, the perception of the readers and their interpretation of the text. G. Hluscu M.-M. Crisan Copyright (c) 2025 Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. Series IV: Philology and Cultural Studies 2025-03-28 2025-03-28 53 64 10.31926/but.pcs.2025.67.18.1.3 On Night’s Wing: Bats as Vampiric Signifiers of Death, Darkness, and Disease https://webbut.unitbv.ro/index.php/Series_IV/article/view/9714 Images of bats have graced illuminated manuscripts, church architecture, and funerary art throughout Mediaeval Europe, calling into question their current associations with vampires as adversaries of Western Christianity. This essay outlines the cultural development of bats originally considered strange yet innocuous animals to signifiers of vampiric evil, using an interdisciplinary survey to pinpoint how and when attributions such as darkness, otherness, and contagion arose. Drawing from mediaeval thought, nineteenth-century literature, and modern-day scientific texts, a complex development ties the bat to the vampire by way of dragons and devils, becoming the de-facto symbol of vampirism and eventually the twenty-first century plague-bringer in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. James McCrea Copyright (c) 2025 Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. Series IV: Philology and Cultural Studies 2025-03-28 2025-03-28 65 86 10.31926/but.pcs.2025.67.18.1.4 Succumbence and Redemption in Doug Moench’s Batman & Dracula Trilogy https://webbut.unitbv.ro/index.php/Series_IV/article/view/9716 Dracula had always been a source of inspiration for Batman, something confessed by his very own creator Bob Kane in his autobiography. Written by Doeg Moench3 and published in what is called the Modern/Dark Age of Comics, the Batman & Dracula Trilogy reunites the two characters in one person(age). This paper investigates the development of some motifs from Bram Stoker’s Dracula and explores the matter of the fallibility of the hero as raised in this graphic trilogy. A hero is exemplary, yet human nevertheless. Being human, he is imperfect and, therefore, subject to mistake. But how grave can a hero’s mistake be? To what extent is a mistake a fall? And does a hero have the right to redemption no matter the gravity of his fall? The rationale and the morale behind the very idea of Batman have been lost once the hero succumbed to anger and lust and could not stop his fall anymore. Does the sacrifice he eventually undergoes entitle him to redemption? B.-A. Imbre M.-M. Crisan Copyright (c) 2025 Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. Series IV: Philology and Cultural Studies 2025-03-28 2025-03-28 87 98 10.31926/but.pcs.2025.67.18.1.5 At the Bottom of Both Worlds: Hierarchy of Speeches in “Blade” (1998) https://webbut.unitbv.ro/index.php/Series_IV/article/view/9718 The present work seeks to observe the hierarchy of speeches in the first Blade (1998) movie. Since the black vampire hunter is half human and half vampire, we must analyze its complex existence in both groups. Due to the fact he is a black man, it is possible to see parallels between the existing racial prejudice in the off-screen world and the separation shown in the film. Besides, as a half vampire, he is also considered at the bottom of the vampire world hierarchy. Although he is portrayed as an outcast, living outside the margins of society, Blade is placed at the center of a myth as the one with the power to awaken an ancient vampire god. To understand the paradoxes of Blade’s identity, we intend to focus on the power dynamics presented in the movie through the lens of the decolonial studies framework, considering authors such as Achille Mbembe, Denise Ferreira da Silva and Homi Bhabha. E. Lima J. Barroso Copyright (c) 2025 Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. Series IV: Philology and Cultural Studies 2025-03-28 2025-03-28 99 106 10.31926/but.pcs.2025.67.18.1.6 Nosferato in Brazil: Vampires, Military Dictatorship and Pop Culture https://webbut.unitbv.ro/index.php/Series_IV/article/view/9720 This study investigates the vampires’ hideaway in the Brazilian movie fiction. We suggest that these monsters, after facing a myriad of obstacles in their adaptation to the Brazilian cinema, ended up finding shelter for their eternal bloody existence in the most fragile of the audiovisual media: the Super-8. The focus of our analysis is on Nosferato no Brasil (Ivan Cardoso, 1971), one of the most famous films of the Brazilian Super-8 era in the 1970s. We aim to describe how Nosferato was created out of a repertoire consisting of several references to the pop culture of the 1950s and 1960s. Ivan Cardoso Canepa Copyright (c) 2025 Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. Series IV: Philology and Cultural Studies 2025-03-28 2025-03-28 107 126 10.31926/but.pcs.2025.67.18.1.7 Vampiric Episteme and the Reconfigurations of the Cinematographic Vampire https://webbut.unitbv.ro/index.php/Series_IV/article/view/9722 We seek to analyze the reconfigurations of the vampire in contemporary cinema. However, our aim is not mapping this phenomenon, but underlining some examples of the most blockbuster Hollywood productions and focusing (above all) in an analysis of a vampiric episteme that can reflect the characteristics and ability of this being to adapt to the new desires of the public and society. In a vast history of representations, the vampire has encompassed an interesting multiplicity, with a variation of readings of his sociopolitical and cultural metaphors. In this way, it is possible to identify the transformation of this classic Gothic villain into contemporary appearances that dialogue with our new desires and needs. Nowadays, our current experiences proposals that cast these personas through heroic figures in different narrative arcs that are not limited to just the horror genre. Yuri Garcia Copyright (c) 2025 Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. Series IV: Philology and Cultural Studies 2025-03-28 2025-03-28 127 144 10.31926/but.pcs.2025.67.18.1.8 Dracula and Vampires in Literature, Film, and Popular Culture https://webbut.unitbv.ro/index.php/Series_IV/article/view/9706 No abstract M. Grabias Y. Garcia F. Nechita Cristian Pralea Copyright (c) 2025 Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. Series IV: Philology and Cultural Studies 2025-03-28 2025-03-28 1 2