Podcast 2 - Dracula

Posted by Benjamin Seing in College English · Pahomov/Rhymer · B Band on Wednesday, January 9, 2019 at 11:52 am

This podcast is about a summary of Chapters 11 to 14 in "Dracula". We explored the New Historicist Lens and how Bram Stoker wrote stories of Gothic novels. Today's Goth is quite different than today's view on Goth. Stories have evolved over time but we get to take a look at how Goth is viewed in the Victorian Era. Majd's Article Stoker, Dacre, and J.D. Barker. “The Real History That Went Into Bram Stoker's Dracula.” Time, Time, 2 Oct. 2018, time.com/5411826/bram-stoker-dracula-history/. Dacre Stoker, the great grand-nephew of author Bram Stoker, revealed some of the historic events that influenced the writing of Dracula. In a meeting with the Royal Coast Guard, Bram Stoker learned about the wreck of the Dmitri, a ship that departed from Varna with a load of earth and washed up on shore with a few dead crewmembers, and a dog that ran up to Saint Mary’s Church. Combining this with the common Victorian folklore of Romania, Stoker created “Dracula”, a novel about a man who unknowingly visits a vampire to conduct business. Ben’s Article “The Origins of the Gothic.” The British Library, The British Library, 26 Feb. 2014, www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/the-origins-of-the-gothic. The article was about the historical culture of gothic in the UK. Today, we see that gothic culture is usually seen as wearing black and having a malevolent vibe. The article goes into detail about how the idea of goth is more about having a thrill for supernatural events or characters. Some may tie romance into it. Some novels are mentioned to reference and how some have similar themes. "The Gothic is mainstream of Victorian Fiction" is a title that stood out. As it is a time period that the fiction of horror and thrill for stories of that nature. Sean’s Article Adrian Tanasa, Iasi, Romania. "Interview with Bram Stoker About Dracula." Dracula, dracula.cc/literature/bram_stoker_interview_dracula/. This article that I analyzed expresses author Bram Stokers ideals and what has been expressed throughout the novel, 'Dracula.' Stoker talks about his initial ideas when writing this novel and what made him change his decisions. I believe that it is important for an author to have a good foundation even when writing a fictional story. Although it's something I expected when looking at this novel. In this interview, Stoker was asked, "Is there any historical basis for the legend." When asked this question, Stoker gave a lengthy response, Stoker shows how his basis for the idea is in relation to misconceptions about death.

Comments (16)

Bronwyn Goldschneider

I really loved your integration of the new historicist lens in your podcast! I agree with Ameer in that it isn't the easiest lens to use, but you guys really pulled it off while at the same time giving good context for listeners so we don't get confused about the book's plotline. Great job !

Jason Lam

Your overall discussion was good, especially with the new requirements for the discussion needing to be more about the lens you chose. However, I did find the discussion lacking in fluency and not everyone talked a lot in the discussion. The analysis through the lens was great. I really liked the part of the inspiration the author got from a sunken ship for Dracula.

Jason Lam

Kimberly Gucciardi-Kriegh

I found the music under the whole track kind of distracting but the audio is super clear and organized! I think you did an amazing job with the new historicist lens, you picked amazing examples from history that actually expanded the listener's knowledge of the book without even reading it. I liked how you did historical events but also things everyday people would have know, meaning the inclusion of the differences in the book and movie, anime, and x men. Maybe add a little more context about the plot next time.

Olivia Musselman

This video was smooth and pretty easy to follow, even without much background information. I think you wouldn't need to provide much background anyway since Dracula is so well-known. Tackling the new historicist lens was a good challenge and I think you pulled it off.

Ameer Johnson

The new historicists lens seems hard to implement in an actual conversation so I applaud you for the effort. The connections to Dracula with the gothic influences was interesting to listen to. I think the music could have been toned a bit in the production in this podcast. It drowned out your voices at the time and could be distracting during some moments.

Nile Ward

This podcast did expand on my understanding of the historicist lens. It's always worth remembering that when things are written, because this always influences how the story is written, and also why the author chose to include (or exclude) certain details or word choice. I liked how the podcast flowed naturally just as a normal conversation – I always enjoy not necessarily unscripted, but just more free-flow conversation, rather than trying to hit on certain "talking points."

Matthew Reed

It's interesting how you take a look at gothic characters in the story, and compare them to other books. I also thought it was how you talked about the movie. Maybe because the book was written in a different time then the movie was.

Amelia Benamara

This podcast expanded my knowledge on how the whole group helped one another speak up about different topics. I heard you guys encourage one another to speak more on something specific. I also find it interesting that one of the main points was the novel centered around the time period it was written — which also connected to the Marxist’s lens. Something that stuck out to me was the chill music in the back, it was not distracting at all and fit really well with the tone of your voices.

Alexandrea Rivera

I liked the music but I think it should have been a little lower in the beginning. A description of the book so that if there were any new listener they wouldn't be lost. The podcast didn't really sound like a real conversation at times but I think that was because not knowing how to bring up the new topic/or situation to talk about. I feel like the lens could have been involved more in the podcast. It was good to bring up questions and answering them with other questions I thought that, that was something good for the listeners to hear and think about. Good Job!

Vivian Pham

How did this podcast expand your literary lens knowledge? Historical lens: Through this podcast, I think this expanded my knowledge on it because it puts into perspectives of historical ideas that people have even when if it's non realistic. I used to think about the historical lens as actual events that happened in the past and tying that into the story. But I thought it was interesting how there's a lot more to discovering and analyzing a lens than it's basic principles.
What did you like about the production of this podcast? I liked that everyone spoke and that there was music playing continuously throughout the podcast and how there wasn't any open or quiet space or silence.

Eric Valenti

I think you guys did a great job of focusing on the lens and transitioning that into the conversation went really easy as well. I feel like the conversation was awkward a few times but you can't control that so it's understandable. The editing is really smooth too.

Julia Furman

We did a good job discussing the influences of Dracula, which I think contributed to our topic. I like how we each contributed something to the discussion.

Afi Koffi

I think that the new history lens is often the hardest to use and so kudos for choosing it and using it so well in your podcast. The conversation was smooth and the reader stayed engaged. The production of the podcast itself was very good. I just wish you would've turned the music down a little.

Messele Asfaw

This podcast did what it set out to do. It provided a new point of view with the aid of a literary lens. The new historian lens made me aware of all the influences that went into this book. All the gothic themes, the witch trials, religion, and supernaturalism (if that's a word) all show themselves in the book while also being big things at the time. Something new that I noticed you did in the production was the addition of the music in the background. At times it got louder than the people speaking, or more so that the people got quieter, but it added a lot more personality to this podcast and I really like that.

Majo Bostani

Personally, with this podcast came new knowledge to me about literary lenses. It's not as much about using the phrase "Looking through the ______ lens, it's more so a discussion starter; a way to see how the past, present, and future have connections with the selection. I like how authentic of production this seems, with the like, comment, subscribe ending, among others.