【精品硕士研究论文】《暮光之城》中的吸血鬼文化研究.pdf

学校代码：10406 分类号：tp391.4 学号：100050211034 南昌航空大学南昌航空大学 硕硕 士士 学学 位位 论论 文文 （学位研究生） 暮光之城中的吸血鬼文化研究暮光之城中的吸血鬼文化研究 硕士研究生： 余雯雯 导 师： 吴静教授 申请学位级别： 硕 士 学科、专业：外国语言学及应用语言学 所在单位：外国语学院 答辩日期：2013年6月14日 授予学位单位：南昌航空大学 i research on vampire culture in the twilight saga a dissertation submitted for the degree of master on foreign linguistics and applied linguistics by yu wenwen under the supervision of prof. wu jing school of foreign languages nanchang hangkong university, nanchang, china month june, year 2013 ii 摘 要 自从1922年的第一部电影诺斯费拉图开始，吸血鬼是好莱坞恐怖电影 中最为常见的题材之一，很多观众，尤其是青少年，都被在2008年上映的电影 暮光之城中有魅力的吸血鬼爱德华所深深吸引。暮光之城表达了对社会的、现 实的、人类终极命运的自我意识及吸血鬼深邃文化内涵的主题。吸血鬼电影已 经成为文化特殊的一部分，因此，它值得我们研究。 吸血鬼电影和吸血鬼形象的研究在国外已延续半个多世纪，相关研究主要 集中在精神分析、女性主义、大众文化、神秘学等领域。然而在国内，关于吸 血鬼形象的研究还非常少，且多数为影评，学术价值不大。 本文主要从文化研究的角度对暮光之城吸血鬼形象进行分析。在人们的脑 海中，“吸血鬼”一直都是代表着邪恶。特别是在早期的电影作品中，吸血鬼 几乎都是恐怖、阴暗的鬼形象，尖利的牙齿、面相丑陋、吸食人血、惧怕阳光 等等。但在暮光之城中，吸血鬼形象发生了很大的变化，他们不再扁平丑陋， 而变得丰满而生动。电影中的吸血鬼变得更为丰满、迷人、更人性化。 通过分析我们发现暮光之城中的吸血鬼继承了一些早期电影的传统元素。 所有的吸血鬼面色苍白，手脚冰冷，具有非凡的超能力和极快的速度。恐怖和 暴力是暮光之城和早期电影的主要元素。但是，在现代的吸血鬼电影中发生了 很大的变化。恐怖和暴力没有始终在暮光之城起着主导的地位。爱取代恐怖成 为了电影的主要主题。此外，很多社会问题在电影中得到反映。通过使用许多 象征性的标题如月食、破晓等等，这部电影展示了欲望与理性的斗争。更重要 的是，用了一种含蓄的方式表达了对印第安人的种族歧视。 关键词：吸血鬼文化，暮光之城，象征，种族歧视关键词：吸血鬼文化，暮光之城，象征，种族歧视 iii abstract since the release of the first vampire nosferatu in 1922, vampire has become one of the most common themes in hollywood. many audience, especially the juvenile, are fascinated by the charming vampire edward in the twilight saga in 2008. the twilight saga has expressed the theme of peoples self-awareness of the society, the reality and humans fate and the theme of vampires cultural connotations. vampire films have become a special part of culture. so it really deserves our research. the modern research on vampire films and vampire image overseas has lasted for nearly half a century, mainly focusing on psychoanalysis, feminism, mass culture, occultism etc. however there are few studies concerning with vampire image in the domestic research. most of them are film reviews with little academic value. this dissertation analyzes the vampire image in the twilight saga from cultural perspective. in peoples mind, vampire is almost synonymous with evil. especially in early vampire movies, the image of vampire is always horrible and gloomy with sharp teeth, hideous face, feeding on human blood, afraid of sunshine etc. but in the twilight saga, the images of vampires have a great change. they are no longer flat, plain, horrible but increasingly colorful, vivid and human-like. by analysis we find that the vampires in the twilight saga have inherited some traditional elements in early films. all vampires have pale complexion, ice-cold hands and feet, extraordinary power and splitting speed. some of vampires still suck blood as the vampire in early films. violence and horror are main elements in the twilight saga and early films. however, great changes have taken place in modern vampire film. violence and horror no long take priority in the twilight saga. love takes the place of horror and becomes the main theme of the film. besides, many social problems are reflected in the film. by the use of many symbolized titles such as eclipse, dawn, etc. the film displays a conflict between reason and desire. whats more, racial discrimination against indians is expressed in a implicit way. key words: vampire culture, the twilight saga, symbol, racial discrimination iv a dissertation for masters degree of arts contents contents 摘摘 要要.iii abstract.iv chapter one introduction.1 1.1 research background.1 1.2 the purpose and significance of the study.1 chapter two literature review.3 2.1 the origin of vampire culture.3 2.2 vampires in medieval religious literature.5 2.3 vampires in modern european literature.6 2.4 vampires in american literature.8 2.5 vampires in media.10 2.6 research status of the twilight saga.10 chapter three vampire culture in the twilight saga.13 3.1 the introduction of the film.13 3.2 the comparison of the vampire image in the twilight saga and traditional vampire image.14 3.3 the racial discrimination displayed in the twilight saga.18 3.4 cinderellas prototype inside bella and the vampire edward .20 3.5 the struggle between reason and desire .24 chapter four conclusion.28 4.1 major findings28 4.2 limitations and suggestions.29 bibliography.30 发表论文和参加科研情况说明.32 发表论文.32 acknowledgements.33 南昌航空大学硕士学位论文原创性声明南昌航空大学硕士学位论文原创性声明.34 南昌航空大学硕士学位论文使用授权书南昌航空大学硕士学位论文使用授权书.34 v a dissertation for masters degree of arts chapter one introduction chapter one introduction 1.1 research background vampire has a long history in western culture and it gains popularity in the modern world. although it originated in europe, it is quickly accepted by american culture and has greatly developed. there are numerous excellent works in the history of movies. it has alway been one of the most common themes in hollywood horror movies since the first vampire film the vampires made in 1913 in america, many great film-makers such as famous director coppola, quentin.tarantino, neil.jordan have shot many excellent movies about the vampires. every generation all create the vampires image of their own times. with the sophisticated movie techniques, the vampires image in hollywood movies became more plump and charming. the vampires stories told by hollywood are more breathtaking, which attracted countless audience. the films of hollywood also show all kinds of images of vampires. some films emphasize the vampires bloodthirsty by nature and their infringement to ordinary people. the vampire of this sort is like an evil monster that bring disasters to people . some other films settled on rich conception which the vampire culture contained, explored all kinds of themes and expanded representation space of the vampire film. in these films, although the images of vampires are different, they were not purely evil symbol and filled with emotion and thought. in fact their thoughts and feelings are ordinary peoples. so what these kinds of images of vampires indicate is not the world of ghosts and gods, just the joys and sorrows of life in different situations. the twilight saga, is one of the most popular films made in america. it created the box offices miracle of vampire movies in the new century and set off a wave of vampires craziness around the world. as a vampire movie, it embodies many new elements which are worth our study. 1.2 the purpose and significance of the study since the twenty-first century, vampires movies have gained a strong momentum 1 a dissertation for masters degree of arts chapter one introduction in box office. with the help of summit entertainment company, a series of novels of stephanie mels the twilight saga has been made into films. vampires culture arrives at a new peak. the images of the vampires are deeply rooted in the hearts of people. people work hardly and monotonously day after day. they are eager to break the heavy burden of life and need a spiritual support. vampire movies are to meet their needs. in the new century, the pursuit of vampire culture around the world reflects the peoples ideological change in the industrial era and peoples search for their own value and love in the jungle of mechanization and information. the dissertation analyzes the vampire elements in the film of the twilight saga and tries to deal with three questions: (1) traditional elements of vampire image inherited in this film; (2) the particular elements of vampire image it embodies. (3) the symbols it produces. 2 a dissertation for masters degree of arts chapter two literature review chapter two literature review 2.1 the origin of vampire culture there are myths, folk tales and superstitions related with vampires in the culture around the world. vampires are depicted as an individual of horrific evil and supernatural power. haggerty(1998) pointed out the figure of the vampires could be seen everywhere in western culture. although the vampire culture is originated in european mainland, its development is mainly achieved in english and american culture. after experiencing the spread of this three main developmental stages that was medieval superstition and legend, literary works in industrial revolution and modern multi-culture. the images of the vampires became fixed in peoples imaginary world from evil supernatural bloodsucker to incarnation of human. in ancient egyptian culture, vampires were zombies. in ancient arabian folklore, vampires are predatory sorceresses. in ancient mexican superstition, vampire were witches or wizards. in ancient greek and roman mythology, vampires were half human, half beast god or demon which could turn into humanoids for revenge and existence. even there were vampires in ancient babylonian and indian legends and resin ghost in ancient chinese legend and so on. all these bloodsucking had a common characteristic, that was, lusting for blood, they had to suck blood from a living person or an animal. after discussing the vampire cultures origin ledge(1994) thought that since ancient people had difficulties in understanding physiological phenomena of blood、disease、and especially, death, they created different kinds of blood-thirsty creatures in their imaginary world, indicating the human ancestors fear for nature. simone r(1994) pointed out the vampire culture represented humans recognition of the uncontrollable nature and their spiritual life. the vampire culture was generally mass culture and popular culture. in the real world some people are with similar vampires features which are typical symptoms of porphyria patients. porphyria was a common disease in medieval transylvania. the patients accumulate a kind of chemical material - porphyria. porphyria can become corrosive carnivorous toxin under the sunlight. therefore, patients with porphyria never venture into outdoor. if this disease is not treated, it can 3 a dissertation for masters degree of arts chapter two literature review lead to deformation of human body. people imagine that eventually they become horrific deformed zombies. patientslips and gums are corroded and red teeth root exposed. their skin has scars on it and the color is pale like a zombie because of anemia. some historians(kostova, bram stoker)speculated that patients with porphyria might try to treat it through drinking blood in the european medieval age. during this age, frequent wars resulted in hopeless pain people lived in. because of the undeveloped condition of science and medical treatment, they made a justified interpretation to porphyria so vampires tales and superstitions were born. vampires superstitions spread in central eastern prussia、silesia and bohemian obviously have been influenced by rampant pestilence in europe. in fourteenth century, the black death eventually led to the death of 1/3 of european population . in europe the corpses were everywhere and people got into a total panic. in order to avoid the contagion of plague, people often hastily buried the patients before death. these people might be in pain at the time of death and wanted to struggle out of the coffin. so they bled, but always proved to be futile at last. a few days later when people opened the tomb to bury other dead bodies, they would see the body twisted with a little bloodstain on which was regarded as a vampire. they imagined that the ghost revived from the grave, wandered in the street in the midnight and lived on blood. as the plague broke out and spread quickly in europe, vampiressuperstition swept the whole of europe in sixteenth century. during this period cases have been reported continually that ghosts attacked living persons at night, which enhanced peoples belief in vampires. from the 18th century to the end of the 19th century, romantic thoughts made the vampire culture revive again. the beginning of the 21th century witnessed the popularity of the vampire culture. the legends of the vampires continued being active and entered other fields such as film and television, music, fashion, painting and so on. it became an important part of modern society culture. after the renaissance in the fourteenth century, humanism were greatly developed. religious reformational movement in alliance with humanism destroyed roman catholic ruling of the life of european people. in the christian world the blood was endowed with supernatural ability. people generally believed that persons who committed guilty and suicide or anathematized would suffer both in the real world or in the world after their death. so they would easily become devils. and they got rebirth by sucking the blood of living persons. the superstition of the vampires 4 a dissertation for masters degree of arts chapter two literature review was engendered. 2.2 vampires in medieval religious literature religion has had a great impact on peoples belief in bloodsuckers. lakeoff (1975) pointed out that human had written many legends about this combination devil and blood. many countries and nations has related records. he expounded that the vampires were products of european culture whose legends and superstitions could be traced back to ancient greek culture and christian tradition. the enchantress lilith in the ancient hebrew myth could be considered as the first ancestor of the vampires. the name lilith came from the hebrew, meaning “night”. it was said that she was adams first wife before eve. she abandoned god in order to pursue the power beyond adam and then left the garden of eden. lilith came to the red sea that was the “blood sea” where all the lives need females blood. however the cost of the birth of all the livings was to add blood to “blood sea”. adam and his second wife eve had two sons, cain and abe. cain killed abe who got gods love because of envy. when abes blood flew into the land, lilith, regarded as the mother of the land, accepted the blood of abel as a sacrifice. cain got gods punishment. from then on cain wandered in his rest life in the darkness and would never die, only to feed on blood. as for lilith, there was another legend that she was celines oracle in giant time. celine put liliths name out of death register, so lilith became an immortal vampire. according to senf(1988), the first appearance fo vampire in literature was in the poetry. the most representative was corinths fiancee of goethe. this poetry was based on folklore of trahler which told a young athenian corinth visiting his fathers old friend. his daughter was engaged to corinth in the early time. however she died unfortunately. in medieval europe vampireslegends embodied two beliefs in christian world. the first was christian thought that there was life after death. the body was the material form. after death, the soul could continue surviving in another world. the second was that in the christian world blood not only was the symbol of vitality but also was endowed with supernatural abilities. new testament on the page of one hundred and eighty said that before the crucifixion jesus and his followers ate in the last supper bread and wine which symbolized as their flesh and blood. the blood had condonable value. therefore, the evil souls who rebelled against god lived by taking 5 a dissertation for masters degree of arts chapter two literature review the blood of the living. they were selfish, cruel and bloody vampires which abandoned god. corinth was a leading actor in the poetry corinths fiancee. in order to meet corinths coming.the woman came out of the tomb, to meet him to become a vampire. keats and coleridge all described the female vampire, which showed romantic poets interest in this supernatural phenomenon. in addition, in the medieval religious literature the fictional vampires were used to promote the idea that strong desires could produce all kinds of evils. thus people had to suppress their