Transylvania in popular culture
Largely as a result of the success of Bram Stoker's Dracula, Transylvania has become a popular setting for gothic horror fiction, and most particularly vampire fiction.[1] In some later books and movies Stoker's Count Dracula was conflated with the historical Vlad Dracula, also known as Vlad III the Impaler (1431–1476), who though most likely born in the Transylvanian city of Sighișoara, ruled over neighboring Wallachia.[2]
Books
- According to some versions of the story, the Pied Piper of Hamelin took the children of Hamelin to Transylvania. The story may be an attempt to explain the Ostsiedlung of the Transylvanian Saxons in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
- Dracula, a novel by Bram Stoker. Much of the early action is set in Transylvania, the homeland of the title character.
- Many important figures in Hungarian and Romanian literature came from Transylvania and treated the region extensively in their works. These writers include the Hungarians Áron Tamási, Albert Wass, and Károly Kós and the Romanians Liviu Rebreanu and Ioan Slavici. The "Transylvanian trilogy" of historical novels by the Hungarian Miklós Bánffy is an extended treatment of the region's social and political history during the 19th and early 20th century.
- Carpathian Castle, a book by Jules Verne. The action is set in a small village of Transylvania.
- Überwald, a fictional region in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series that is partly based on Transylvania. The name, meaning "across the forest," is a literal translation of "Transylvania" from Latin into German.
- The Historian, a novel by Elizabeth Kostova. Part of the book is set in Transylvania, where the main characters search for clues about Dracula.
- The Sight by David Clement-Davies is set in Transylvania, the book involving a wolf pack and their quest to stop a lone wolf.
- The Keep ,a 1981 novel by F. Paul Wilson.
- In the Harry Potter series Transylvania has a Quidditch team.
- In the Left Behind series, the head of the global government, the Global Community, is a man named Nicolae Carpathia, who reigns from the Transylvania region of Romania.
Movies
Television programs
- Transylvania is the main setting for the animated series Count Duckula.
Animation
Video games
Music
Songs and albums
Webcomics
- A "Transylvania Polygnostic University", or "Trans Poly U", is featured, with some degree of prominence, in the webcomic Girl Genius.
References
- ^ Transylvania in fiction
- ^ Transyvania & Dracula
- ^ Universal Announces "Transylvania," Based on "Van Helsing"
- ^ Transylvania
See also