Društvena i politička instrumentalizacija predstava o vampiru na Balkanu : prilagodljivost besmrtnog motiva : doktorska disertacija ; The social and political instrumentalisation of vampire representations in the balkans: adaptability of an immortal motif

The dissertation explores the form, content and status of representations of the vampire in folk, foremost in cultural, rural heritage today from an anthropological perspective. The concept of the “vampire”, as one of the symbols of social and cultural community reality, was not approached as passive and petrified, but instead as a concept greatly influenced by local, inner, as well as external and global factors. Comparisons of old and new ethnographic material pointed out changes in the form and content respectively, which posed the question which influences led to the changes, fragmentation or disappearance of the motives as elements of demonological tradition. Based on the presented material and analysis we have concluded that the motive functioned as a response to social problems and needs in the traditional context, or that in other words it represented a reflection of social and cultural reality. The concept of the “vampire” in this sense functions as a “floating signifier”, a motiv through which the community, group or individual speak of social problems, tensions or needs within a specific context. Although it representsa an aberration, that is to say an inversion of the social norm on a collective level, the “vampire” had various roles which reproduced the power of the community, but also embodied resistance and negotiation used to overcome social bounds. within the world of the village community. The motive‟s specificity was therefore its cohabitation with different layers of society which communicated with each other through its use. On the other hand, this motive was, as a symbol of the “world for itself”, of a state within the state, or a church outside the worldview of the Serbian Orthodox church, for centuries interpreted, as a kind of symbolic resistance to the centralization and modernization of the state, besides its local integrative role. Vampire related beliefs and practices had been criticized or punished by profane and sacral rule for centuries. However, historical periods during which ...