Paper Example on Dracula's Otherness: Exploring Orientalism and Historical Perspectives

British culture sees its imperial practices mirrored back in monstrous forms'' (Arata 621-645). Arata claims in her article titled, The Occidental Tourist: "Dracula" and the Anxiety of Reverse Colonization'' that the narrative in many English fiction and non-fiction texts, especially from the late Victorian era is about the fear of reversed colonization caused by the decline of the British Empire, the loss of many of its colonies around the globe, and by the rise of some other mighty empires. While this might be true in some other texts from that period, I do not think of Dracula's narrative in the same way Arata does. I argue that Stoker's text's narrative is about the production of the otherness of the different.

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The narrative is thus neither showing the decline of the English Empire nor the fear of reversed colonization. It should be rather understood as a justification for the existence, continuation, and initiation of colonial enterprises through creating otherness of Eastern cultures and their people. These come then to constitute, through their otherness, a constant threat to Western civilization, culture, and identity generally and to the British specifically. This menace is maximum when the other becomes potent because the amalgamation of otherness might entail a transition to monstrosity, as in Bram Stoker's Dracula. In this paper, I intend to illustrate how this otherness is constructed and its implications from a historical perspective. By otherness here, I mean a process involving a/an (in)direct comparison of the self and the other in a way that signifies the superiority of the former and the latter's inferiority. In this paper, I apply Edward Said's theory of Orientalism.

Theory of Orientalism

The definition of Orientalism I devise here is "a style of thought based upon an ontological and epistemological distinction made between ‚the Orient and (most of the time) ‚the Occident (Said 2). The selection of Said's concept for analyzing the text is vital. It was among the first profound academic attempts to study otherness's production in Western literary works before, during, and after imperial times.

Following the definition of Orientalism, Edward Said offers a canonical text of cultural studies that challenges the scope of Orientalism to denote the prevalent differences between the East and West. The suppositions of differences were initialized during the European colonization that offered Europeans an opportunity to interact with underdeveloped countries and the East (Todd 366). The author puts it that they focused on pushing for civilization influencing the exotic culture and establishing Orientalism science.

Edward Said's argument exemplifies the attempted efforts of the Europeans to divide the world; East and West. Some of the terms to refer to the supposed worlds include occident and the Orient, civilized and uncivilized. The precept of developing the artificial boundary was based on them and us. Europeans purposed to exploit Orientalism to define their course and identity. Particular attributes led to association among orientals, and whatever was used as an identity for orientals was not the occidental's identity. In defining their identity, they considered themselves superior to other humans and proceeded to justify their presuppositions through colonization (Khader 76). Europeans claimed to fulfill their sole obligation to bring civilization to the uncivilized societies.

However, it became a significant problem when the Europeans generalized attributes associated with the orientals. They displayed artificial characteristics pegging their justifications through scientific reports, literal works, and other media channels. As a result, the precedence led to the creation of perceptions regarding orientals in Europe's mind, a form of stereotyping that caused the infusion of bias within Europe (Viragh 231-245). It was a moment to lead the development of prejudices noted among orientals- drawing suppositions from scientific studies and numerous researches.

In Dracula, Bram Stoker depicts the cycling narratives as a kind of transgenerational phenomenon passed on to the new generations, in the context of Orientalism, to make meaning of the past stories to formulate their root identity. Humans tend to conceptualize their culture by adopting stories as they grow, and eventually, the recollected stories lead to a reflection of contemporary values, challenges, and situations. Following this narrative cycle, it is clear that Dracula was conceptualized through humble roots and transformed into a horror novel and gave birth to numerous science-fiction and children's movies. Eastern and Western Europe

Judging from Stroker's narrative, Eastern and Western European differences are conspicuous by trademarks when the narration was conceptualized. Considering themselves superior to other nations, Western Europe followed the script as the lead in industrialization and exploiting their dominance over other nations. Through scientific development, Europe believed that intellectual and industrial knowledge was its strength. To affirm their acclaimed position as the global leader, Eastern Europe leveraged on the Napoleonic wars, hanging on Russia's victory, believing that no internal or foreign pressures threatened their existence. As such, the confidence level was that they felt no need to strengthen the military forces. It was during this era that Dracula was written.

Leveraging Eastern Europe's failure to enhance military tactical skills, Western Europe built its military manpower with advanced war equipment. The precedence exposed the weak military in the East as it was conspicuous, as reported in a report in 1987. As mentioned in Dracula between England and Transylvania, the difference was notable, exposing the prominent social divide comparatively. In the 1800's, the tension was high between the European empires as there were presuppositions that a war was in the offing. However, through Dracula's narrative cycle, it follows that the East was equally powerful in countering the West's militarization through the recognition of Turks, Saxons, and Wallachians. They previously engaged in a war on Romanian soil (Bar-Yosef 5-28). Dracula's 'Reverse Colonization'

An evaluation of Dracula's 'reverse colonization' extends to oppose Arata's (1990) claim through Count's character who familiarizes himself with the cultures and beliefs of the West. Count focuses on using intellectual tactics through literacy expositions of his library to develop a civil list and convey information that infiltrates society to fulfill his dangerous mission. According to LEan, Dracula's Gypsies and Slovaks are the actual illustrations of racial stereotyping prevalent in Eastern Europe (331). It is espoused in the novel, which led to partisanship between two groups that aided in constructing opposition. It was an action purpose to course justification of British imperialism and Western hegemony.

Dracula illustrated Eastern Europe and emphasized the need to address immediate issues by considering the political context manifested among the Balkans instead of seeking the abstraction of discourse over Orientalism. Reading through Dracula, one wonders whether the destruction fronted against Dracula as directed by Eastern Christians overtaken by Ottomans reflects Stoker's suppositions holding the view that "Concert Europe" needed the intervention of the Ottoman Empire referred to as the 'sick man of Europe.' Dracula had the power to change Britain's face and forge a new path by eliminating the hegemonic force and destroying the supposed culture of the sick man of Europe. The premise was expunged by displaying the fanatism among the enemies that revered Dracula from a symbology of the societies' desire to be free and create secular states.

Reading from Britain's history, the long-held relationship with Russia played a significant role in empowering the military tactical knowledge and diplomacy in the East and saw antagonism due to the rising threat of Russians in the Black Sea. Bondarevsky (2002) noted that it posed a threat to the British conquering Central Asia and India. It was such a military and diplomatic tussle dubbed 'the Great Game.'

Stoker is often accused of illustrating Dracula negatively, which is viewed as a prominent condemnation of the Orthodox Eastern and Slavic communities with a close connection to Russia. The author has objectively manipulated the sources in narrating Dracula's ethnicity and the reality designed in Eastern Europe.

Delineation of Western Ideologies

Checking the reconstitution of the benefits for interpreting the past ambivalence has helped appreciate the negative and positive alliances on individual perceptions. Accordingly, Bar-Yosef postulates that Stoker offers an exemplification of the abjection philosophy to delineate the Western ideologies that are swiftly muted and expose the permeability and vulnerability of associations in the context of Transylvania. In reference to the conventional sense, the jurisprudence that Western Europe was proud of led to the rise in confidence levels in the preservation of integrity among the colonial subjects, while on the other hand, Dracula dwelled in developing volitional dominance and in rejection of the stipulated restrictions. Following the sense of developing security perception and subverting the colonial rule, it focused on exemplifying domestic equanimity. It follows the illustrations by Jonathan Hacker after envisaging the bliss of domesticity in the relationship between Mina and him while sharing his traveling experiences during the conversation and at a time he is reflecting. Hacker uses the trickery approach to lure Mina to prepare for him culinary delicacies (Stroker 2). As the narrative cycle develops, it is lugubrious to recount his love life noting that they were 'very much in love with a young lady' though possessed by 'harrowing anxiety lest some accident should prevent [him] showing Alice […] that I had […] been faithful to her trust and my own love (Stroker 9). Following the guidance of Jennifer L. Fleissner, she offers remarkable viewpoints concerning the desire for an absent female partner to '[…] lend an air of cozy domesticity' (p. 12). The protagonists of the suppositions, on the other hand, believe in the promise of marriage union to create a home and a family as a trajectory for attaining domestic prosperity yet it exists in the face of adversity due to rationalization of situations.

Harker, as the subjective character, is complemented by the narrator to accord the true imagination of a matrimonial future and homely desires. It impels the need to continue with confrontation and antagonism. In consideration of either marriage or not getting married, it is evident that sexual consummation with Mina or Alice can be defined as elusive. It is consequential of Dracula's attempt to assimilate males in ensuring that affectionate desire cannot be fulfilled as it is culturally unacceptable. The denouncement of every story can be deemed as a vital connotation of revitalizing the manifestation of male colonialism. Harker embarks on a mission to vanquish Dracula and his prominence across Europe although the sequential inferences are deemed indistinguishable. In the eventually, Harker tactical wins and Dracula succumbs to the 'bowie knife' (Stroker 598). The events lead to the affirmation of male potency pursuant to the course of eliminating hegemony in Britain's jurisprudence. Throughout, Stoker exploits the character of Harker, to offer a perspective of the English society through the lenses of Transylvania through comprehensive description.