Dracula and the Via Media: Bram Stoker's ecumenical ecclesiology

摘要

Dracula is rarely examined as a theological text, despite Stoker's proven interest in religion. Here it is argued that the attempt to defeat the vampire by recourse to Protestant Word and Catholic sacrament is linked to the idea of Anglicanism as a mediating ecclesiology, associated with J.H. Newman and F.D. Maurice. Stoker is shown to share Maurice's emphasis on sacrifice as a defining mark of the Church, as well as his discovery of marks of catholicity in all Christian traditions. Dracula presents the vampiric as a pseudo-religion, with elements of Walt Whitman's mystical democracy which, despite being admired by Stoker, is shown to share the vampire's denial of death, and with it the epistemological limits that make possible a true mediation between body and spirit, life and death. Dracula's opponents harness and unite in a new ‘church’ to restore the possibility of generative difference and the reconnection of the material and physical with its source in Divine creation.View full textDownload full textKeywordsecclesiology, Gothic novel, Via Media , Bram Stoker, vampire, F.D. Maurice, J.H. Newman, William Ewart Gladstone, Walt Whitman, sacrament, Anglicanism, sacrificeRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1474225X.2012.709408