The Epistolary Genre

Dear Diana,

My name is Karim, and I too am studying Dracula this term. I am a second-year Cognitive Science major living in Santa Cruz during a pandemic, and I am sure that your life has had to adjust as our world continues to complicate itself. I am writing to give you a better look into my mind in regards to this class, Dracula and vampirism, and to get acquainted as peers.

The novel has been quite an interesting sample of the gothic fiction world which I am yet to deeply experience. I have never paid much attention to these genres, but I am pleasantly surprised by the layers that such a text can have. Dracula has been quite captivating to learn about because I have always been familiar with the concept of Count Dracula without any knowledge of the origins of the character or vampirism as a concept. While fictional novels can be quite foreign to a reader, I am surprised at how easy it has been to pick up on themes in the book.

I am already interested in unpacking the theme of Christianity and faith within the text. From the start, Dracula has contained a lot of Christian imagery and symbolism, while frequently displaying the religious priorities of almost everybody at the time. Harker often mentions the idea of the crucifix in his journal and thinks about the ways in which Christianity is contrasted with evil. Religion was quite significant in a time where knowledge was less accessible to the general public, and so it is interesting to see how knowledge was spread in the form of faith. Another layer to that which particularly interests me is how these Christian epistemes and ideologies connect with societal fears. Throughout the novel, there is the contrast of Christian faith against pure evil, and I look forward to learning about what this can tell us.

I anticipate a letter from you about your own thoughts on Dracula and the messages within the novel. Thank you for your attention.

Best,

Karim Kaissi