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published on September 16, 2025
Isaac Hogarth
The Thirst for Blood
Vampirology, Mythmaking and the Gothic Other Within Serbia and Without
This article develops vampirology as an analytic paradigm for understanding Serbian history and mythology, proposing that the concept of vampirism surmises the logic of parasitism endemic to globalism, neoliberal ideology and ethnonationalist imaginaries. By investigating how the ¡®Balkan Deathworld¡¯ has been manufactured by external Gothic-Orientalist imaginaries and produced by internal ¡®dracular¡¯ dynamics, Serbia¡¯s position in a broader system of vampirism influenced by Capital and Western hegemony is evaluated. Ultimately, the suggestion that Serbia is solely responsible for its aggressions in the 1990s is critiqued; instead, Serbia is considered as a focused subject of vampiric powers which define the logic of late capitalist statehood and personhood.