HS2O59: Vampires and Victorians: Dracula and the Modern World

Module code: HS2O59

Module provider: History; School of Humanities

Credits: 20

Level: 5

When you’ll be taught: Semester 1

Module convenor: Dr Daniel Renshaw , email: d.g.renshaw@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2025/6

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 16 April 2025

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This topic module aims to give students an understanding of the history of European society in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries through the lens of contemporary horror and sensationalist fiction, in particular using Bram Stoker’s famous text Dracula. Through examining works of gothic fiction, we will consider how contemporary fin-de-siecle fears were articulated about the presence of the ‘other’ in Europe, concerns about economic and ‘racial’ decline, changing gender relations, and conceptions of Europe’s ‘role’ in the world. How did the complex and ambiguous figure of the vampire embody such anxieties? Students will gain an appreciation of the dynamics behinds shifts in conceptions of identity and behaviour from the Victorian era to the close of the First World War, the relationship between popular culture and societal concerns, and how historians can make use of literature as a basis of research and debate.  

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to: 

1. Identify the ideas and anxieties underpinning European society in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries  
2. Appreciate how the horror story can reflect the concerns of the era in which it was written 
3. Appraise critically the primary sources and historical interpretations of the subject; 
4. Organise material and articulate arguments effectively in writing and debate 

Module content

This module uses turn-of-the-century horror fiction as a lens on the changes taking place in European society in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and the concerns articulated about those changes. The module begins with an analysis of Bram Stoker and his fiction, and an overview of the myth of the vampire. It will then examine the nature of both western and eastern European societies in the Victorian period, how Eastern Europe was perceived in Western Europe at this time, ideas of modernity, degeneration and the ‘superman’, immigration and responses to immigration, and shifting conceptions of sexuality and ‘correct’ gender roles. The module will conclude by considering how ideas of horror and the ‘other’, including through the medium of cinema, were formulated during the First World War and the inter-war period.  

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

• Teaching and learning will be by a variety of methods, which may include: 
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• Seminars, which Seminars rely on structured group discussion and may also include seminar papers by students, discussion of evidence, team-based exercises, and debates; 
• Online exercises, including quizzes and worksheets; 
• Independent study 

Study hours

At least 33 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Level 3 (i.e. foundation modules for Part 0) and Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: /cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Essay plan to be submitted halfway through the term.

Reassessment

Additional costs