As regular readers of this blog are aware, one of the continued areas of interest and research for me is the intersection between popular culture, spirituality, and theology. A recent interview at religion dispatches with Joseph Laycock, a doctoral candidate at Boston University, touches on these areas and dovetails with some of my own interests as Laycock touched on his research into the issues surrounding modern vampirism.Several aspects of Laycock's research are worth noting. First, he approaches this topic not as a new religious movement, but instead from the broader way in which people in late modernity are constructing their senses of identity. From this perspective Laycock sees contemporary vampires as undergoing a process of self-discovery.
Laycock also attempts to set the record straight in terms of misconceptions about the vampire community, usually construed as "a subversive religious group and that anyone who identifies as a vampire is a dangerous social pariah." Rather than these stereotype Laycock's research confirms that he sees "self-identified vampires more or less as ordinary people."
Interestingly, toward the conclusion of the interview Laycock is asked which book he wished he had written. He refers to Christopher Partridge's excellent book The Re-Enchantment of the West, Volumes I & II, and his development of the idea of "re-enchantment" theory in the West in late modernity as a significant concept in the study of new religions and the Western quest for spirituality. Laycock's research into modern vampires fits will with the idea of people seeking re-enchantment, as well as seeking inspiration for identity and spirituality through aspects of popular culture such as literature, film, and television, resulting in the creation of what Partridge labels "popular occulture."
