Dracula and ToK: A Deeper Look into Theory of Knowledge
The Nexus of Dracula and ToK
Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, "Dracula" provides a rich tapestry for exploring the Theory of Knowledge (ToK) across various Areas of Knowledge (AoK). We'll delve into the Natural Sciences, Human Sciences, and the Arts. The idea of looking at "Dracula and ToK" came to me as I was considering the changes in medical knowledge from 19th century surgery at Guy's Hospital in London, to the development of the covid vaccine at Oxford in 2020. In the short period of 200 years we have evolved knowledge so dramatically. Such drama is realised in Gothic Horror such as Dracula.
Dracula through the Lens of Natural Sciences
In the Natural Sciences AoK, Dracula personifies how the progression of scientific knowledge can incite a fear of the unknown. Consider the character of Dr. Van Helsing, a staunch man of science. When confronted with the supernatural, it strains the confines of his rationality and scientific cognition.
From this, we discern an argument that fear springs not from ignorance but from testing the frontiers of knowledge. It's an affirmation that the Natural Sciences, in their pursuit of rationality, might cause fear or apprehension about maintaining our humanity. Such fears position reason and logic in a dichotomy with compassion, kindness, and altruism.
Science and power (over mind & matter)
What about the omnipotence of the scientific method? The scientists in the novel, such as Van Helsing and Dr Seward, try to elucidate vampires scientifically. We live with the comforting belief that science will eventually be able to explain everything: given sufficient time, energy and resources we will be able to solve every challenge we face with scientific knowledge. But what if that’s not true ? What if there are challenges that science will not be able to solve ? - that’s our worst nightmare, and that’s what Dracula is all about.
When Bram Stoker wrote the book scientists were just beginning to discover viruses, and quickly developing knowledge of infectious diseases, contagion, and vaccination. So the links with modern day science are obvious. From a ToK point of view we are interested in how pre-existing knowledge is integrated into newly emerging knowledge (and vice versa). We’re interested in the caution, maybe scepticism, maybe fear, with which new knowledge is greeted. We’re interested in the mutually inclusive relationship between the technology of knowledge production and the new knowledge produced.
When Bram Stoker wrote the book scientists were just beginning to discover viruses, and quickly developing knowledge of infectious diseases, contagion, and vaccination. So the links with modern day science are obvious. From a ToK point of view we are interested in how pre-existing knowledge is integrated into newly emerging knowledge (and vice versa). We’re interested in the caution, maybe scepticism, maybe fear, with which new knowledge is greeted. We’re interested in the mutually inclusive relationship between the technology of knowledge production and the new knowledge produced.
Among other scientific ties to the Natural Sciences in Dracula, we find glimpses of early scientific theories like Physiognomy and hypnotism. These reflect the novel's potent interplay between existing knowledge and emerging scientific models.
Deciphering Dracula in the Human Sciences
When we shift our lens to the Human Sciences, Dracula accentuates how these disciplines often hinge on a rational model of the human. Stoker authored Dracula at a time when rational empirical positivism of both Natural and Human Sciences was uprooting older forms of knowledge production.
Dracula poses a disruptive question: What if humans aren't rational? What if we can't elucidate them using rational models? It's here we find divergences in Psychology and Anthropology. Psychology endeavours to comprehend people's irrational thoughts and behaviours through scientific models. At the time that Stoker was writing Dracula in Scotland, Dr Freud in Austria, was writing about Neuroses - he was creating a new science which aimed to understand people’s irrational thoughts and behaviours.
Dracula is an artistic visualisation of the neuroses, obsessions, phobias and fears that Dr Freud was identifying, naming and classifying. The labelling, identification, classification and organisation of knowledge is a big thing in ToK. We can ask whether without early Psychology we would have had Dracula ? In many ways Dracula is the AoK The Arts version of knowledge that Freud was creating in AoK The Human Sciences.
Anthropology stands in a special place in AoK The Human Sciences in its central focus on ethnomethodology. This is a process of knowledge production that proposes that to understand people you have to live their lives as closely as possible. This is the human as research tool, and in many ways it is unique in AoK Human Sciences. Rather than separate subject, object and researcher it blends their perspectives, championing validity over reliability. This is unlike the other Human Sciences that prioritise reliability over validity). Arguably this central premise of ethnomethodology is mirrored in Dracula, you can only understand Vampires by becoming one. In wider terms this proposes that you can only evaluate knowledge from the inside rather than the outside. This mirrors the premise in Dracula that you can only comprehend vampires by becoming one.
Unfolding Dracula in the Realm of the Arts
In the Arts AoK, Dracula embodies the symbolic structure of the story arc. The narrative carries both surface-level meaning and deeper symbolic interpretations. This vividly encapsulates the dramatic transformations of the late 19th century, representing the disruptive changes in terms of artistic knowledge. Dracula's journey can be seen as a narrative of transformation and struggle between light and darkness. It reveals not just a physical journey, but also a profound emotional and moral journey. This demonstrates that knowledge can be multi-faceted, and artistic knowledge can represent these multiple perspectives in ways that are more difficult for knowledge from other AoKs.
Dracula and the emergence of new gender roles (Knowledge of identity).
Stoker's depiction of Mina Harker, an educated woman, reflects the changing norms and gender roles of the era. Stoker defies the Victorian ideal of a passive woman, positioning Mina as a pivotal character. Mina uses her intelligence to outwit Dracula. As such the novel demonstrates the potential for artistic knowledge to both describe an empirical reality and to imagine if that reality were changed, or how that reality might evolve. This is one of the key strengths of Artistic Knowledge relative to other forms of knowledge.
Furthermore, Dracula contributed to the evolution of the novel structure. Stoker employed an epistolary format, incorporating letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles, thereby altering the landscape of storytelling. The novel allows for the development of plural interpretations, representing a layered form of knowledge.
Concluding Thoughts
So, what can Dracula teach us about ToK? It demonstrates how Artistic knowledge can communicate and build upon knowledge from other AoK. It shows how knowledge development in one AoK impacts others. Further it emphasises how a society producing new knowledge can also react to new knowledge and perspectives.
In essence, "Dracula" takes us on a journey through the Natural Sciences, Human Sciences, and Arts. The novel unveils ToK debates that continue to resonate today.
ToK Resources (indirectly linked to Dracula and ToK)
If you would like more help with choosing & understanding Exhibition prompts, or choosing objects, you can pick up any of ToKToday’s e-books on the ToK Exhibition. We have e-books explaining individual prompts, a range of prompts, or all of the prompts.
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