This master’s thesis explores the emergence of the myth of Transylvania and Dracula, addressing two main research questions: »How did Bram Stoker’s Gothic novel Dracula (1897) create the myth of Dracula and Transylvania?« and »How did the myth become the foundation for the niche market of Dracula tourism, which has evolved into a global tourism product?« Stoker’s novel, written from an orientalist perspective, portrayed Transylvania as symbolic and geographical construct representing the European transcendental periphery in the collective Western imagination. Despite initial Romanian resistance to this phenomenon and such identification, the country gradually began to attract literary tourists and fans searching for the novel’s locations under the label of »Dracula’s land«. The phenomenon, which developed into a profitable niche, is situated within Gothic tourism — at the intersection of dark and literary tourism. The use of the myth can be seen as an opportunity for storytelling, blending the imported Stokerian narrative with local dark legends, resulting in the creation of a unique imaginative space. Methodologically, the thesis relies on secondary source analysis, a semiological review of tourism packages to Transylvania, and semi-structured interviews with tourism professionals, offering an in-depth insight into the phenomenon.
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