Flesh and Blood. Reading monstrosity and desire in the Twilight Saga and The Vampire Diaries

Abstract

The vampire has always been constructed as a threatening other and associated with violence and deviant behaviours, but the emergence of the supernatural romance in the late twentieth century has led to the transformation of these creatures into romantic heroes. The Twilight Saga and The Vampire Diaries not only reflect the degree of success that this type of narrative has had worldwide, but they also help analyse how ideology is articulated through the discourse of monstrosity and desire in our contemporary society. Blood is read as the epitome of the vampires’ otherness and used to portray the dichotomy between good and evil, reinforcing particular behaviours and attitudes, while censuring others. Both narratives link the vampire’s lust for blood in terms of current anxieties regarding violence and discuss on the breaking of boundaries between what is understood as human and monstrous, challenging these established categories. However, vampires have also been linked to themes of desire and sexuality and blood is once again used to portray that otherness and negotiate established assumptions, while also helping to draw the boundaries between the normal and the deviant and promoting a discourse of containment.