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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Vampires and other blood-sucking monstrous beings constitute some of the most famous myths, legends and stories that continue to haunt contemporary societies. This special issue examines the presence of these beings within cities and their rural surrounds. The contributions to this special issue reflect upon vampires and other monstrosities in relation to the tropical regions of the world from historical pasts to present-day manifestations, and imaginary tropical futures, including: the British colonial empire in the tropical east, New Orleans in the deep south of the United States, across the border to Mexico and Latin American communities, over to India and Southeast Asia, including Bangkok in Thailand, Singapore, and Sabah on the island of Borneo, and to the tropical east coast of Australia. However, the concept of the tropics is not simply a geographical construct, the imaginary of the tropics also emerges out of the spaces of mythology and oral storytelling, ethnographic reports, literature, science fiction magazines, film and television, video games and the internet.' (Anita Lundberg, Lennie Geerlings : Editorial introduction)
Notes
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Only literary material within AustLit's scope individually indexed. Other material in this issue includes:
-Vampire and Empire: Dracula and the Imperial Gaze by Stu Burns
-Exotic Otherlands, Headquarters of Death: Sub-tropical Land- and Cityscapes in The Southern Vampire Mysteries by Agnieszka Stasiewicz-Bieńkowska
-Beyond the Vampire: Revamping Thai Monsters for the Urban Age by Katarzyna Ancuta
-Vampires in Video Games: Mythic Tropes for Innovative Storytelling by Roberto Dillon, Anita Lundberg
-The Role of the Internet in the Endurance of “La Llorona” as a Liminal Archetypal Monster in Modern Latin American Society by David Ramírez Plascencia
-Traditional Beliefs About Weretigers Among the Garos of Meghalaya (India) by Francesco Brighenti
-The Tarob and the Sacred Oath. Liminal Spirits and Stories Creating Heterotopic Spacesin Dusun Culture by Martin Potter
-Trysts Tropiques: The Torrid Jungles of Science Fiction by Christopher B. Menadue
-Liminal Criminal: Abject, Absence and Environment in Junky and The Outsider by Molly Hoey
Contents
- Tropical Liminal : Urban Vampires & Other Bloodsucking Monstrosities, single work criticism
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Man-Eating Teddy Bears of the Scrub : Exploring the Australian Drop Bear Urban Legend,
single work
criticism
'Urban legends are contemporary forms of folklore that are often used to provide lessons in morality or explicate local beliefs, dangers, or customs. In Australia, one such tale describes fiendish, carnivorous, blood-sucking koala-like animals that launch themselves from trees at unsuspecting tourists in the Australian scrub. The drop bear (also known as Thylarctos plummetus or Thylarctos plummetus vampirus) is an urban legend common to tropical Australian scrub regions that serves as a cautionary tale intended to warn against the dangers associated with traversing the Australian bush. As such, the figure of the drop bear represents a uniquely Australian manifestation of the vampire motif. This article examines representations of the drop bear urban legend as provided in contemporary pseudo-scientific, satirical, and popular media sources by means of critical discourse analysis, in addition to exploring how archaeological evidence has been mobilised in support of drop bear narratives. Through a critical review of drop bear tales in accordance with established folklore typologies the paper posits a categorisation of drop bear narratives as urban legend, while also explicating the impacts of social media and the internet on the perpetuation and dissemination of the drop bear legend.' (Publication abstract)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Tropical Liminal : Urban Vampires & Other Bloodsucking Monstrosities
2017
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Etropic , vol. 16 no. 1 2017;
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Tropical Liminal : Urban Vampires & Other Bloodsucking Monstrosities
2017
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Etropic , vol. 16 no. 1 2017;