A01=Duncan Light
Arminius Vambery
Author_Duncan Light
Balkanist Discourse
Bela Lugosi
boia
Boia 2001b
borgo
Borgo Pass
bran
Bran Castle
castle
Castle Dracula
Category=KNSG
Contemporary Societies
count
Count Dracula
Country's Independence
Country’s Independence
cultural identity politics
Dracula Fans
Dracula Tourism
eq_bestseller
eq_business-finance-law
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
Evenimentul Zilei
heritage tourism
Hill Top Farm
Light 2007a
myth and nationhood
Northeast Romania
pass
post-communist studies
Post-socialist Decade
Post-socialist Period
Post-socialist Romania
romania
Romanian cultural tourism policy
Romanian Tourism
socialist
socialist era tourism
Socialist Romania
Stoker's Vampire
Stoker’s Vampire
tourism
vampire
Vampire Dracula
vampire folklore studies
Water Park
Western Popular Imagination
Product details
- ISBN 9781409440215
- Weight: 453g
- Dimensions: 156 x 234mm
- Publication Date: 28 Jun 2012
- Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
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For many in the West, Romania is synonymous with Count Dracula. Since the publication of Bram Stoker's famous novel in 1897 Transylvania (and by extension, Romania) has become inseparable in the Western imagination with Dracula, vampires and the supernatural. Moreover, since the late 1960s Western tourists have travelled to Transylvania on their own searches for the literary and supernatural roots of the Dracula myth. Such 'Dracula tourism' presents Romania with a dilemma. On one hand, Dracula is Romania's unique selling point and has considerable potential to be exploited for economic gain. On the other hand, the whole notion of vampires and the supernatural is starkly at odds with Romania's self-image as a modern, developed, European state. This book examines the way that Romania has negotiated Dracula tourism over the past four decades. During the communist period (up to 1989) the Romanian state did almost nothing to encourage such tourism but reluctantly tolerated it. However, some discrete local initiatives were developed to cater for Dracula enthusiasts that operated at the margins of legality in a communist state. In the post-communist period (after 1989) any attempt to censor Dracula has disappeared and the private sector in Romania has been swift to exploit the commercial possibilities of the Count. However, the Romanian state remains ambivalent about Dracula and continues to be reluctant to encourage or promote Dracula tourism. As such Romania's dilemma with Dracula remains unresolved.
Dr Duncan Light works in the School of Tourism, Bournemouth University, UK. He is a cultural geographer with particular interests in the inter-relationships between tourism, national identity and heritage.
