Dark Matters: Dissecting Dracula in a School of Art and Design

I currently teach a first-year undergraduate module ‘Dark Matters: Visualizing Gothic literature’ in a school of Art and Design. Photography, animation, illustration, and fashion students use Stoker’s Dracula to assess components of visual design within the novel’s themes and characterization and the possible application of these within their creative disciplines. The emphasis of classroom activities is on textual analysis of aesthetic techniques expressing corporeality and body dissolution, liminality, and spatial boundaries. Students analyze existing visual interpretations of Dracula and interrogate the expression of themes and concepts within the visual domain to develop skills of critical thinking within their own practice as artists and designers. This chapter will document this approach and evaluate the role that Dracula can perform in nurturing interdisciplinary approaches incorporating literature, still/moving images, and material culture that subsequently feed students’ creativity.