Abstract
This paper examines unexplored associations in Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) from a critical sleep studies perspective. Specifically, I examine the role of parasomnias in creating an atmosphere of fear and mystery in Dracula. As the term suggests, these phenomena are caught between horror and science in the worlds of supernatural and scientific concepts; mythical creatures and physiological sensations. An iconic figure representing the contagiousness of Gothic anxieties, Dracula has received less attention in its significance as an early medical and cultural body of evidence for sleep studies. Through the use of somnambulism and sleep paralysis, the narrative captures a sense of oppression and helplessness. A pivotal time for the history of sleep and liminal states of perception, the nineteenth century transformed knowledge about the physiology of sleep and sleeping disorders, marked in fiction through a preoccupation with alternate states of consciousness (Schatz 2015). By contextualizing the text in nineteenth-century studies on sleep and consciousness, I explore the tension between physiological feelings and psychological affect in the text. I examine Dracula as a site of narrative evidence for the bodily feelings produced in parasomnias that cannot be contained in diagnostic descriptions. Ultimately, the paper demonstrates how Dracula is one of the earliest examinations of strange sleep and its relationship to the uncanny.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Sleep Studies; Health Humanities; Dracula; Nineteenth-century Literature; Gothic; Parasomnias
