Characterization of a multiple-identity Vampire. Matthew Clairmont in A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Abstract

The combination of historical and fantastic literatura featured with romance, conflict and supernatural characters seem to be the ingredients of the new bestseller sagas focused on creatures such as vampires. An example is the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness. This autor uses different characteristics to report a current shift in traditional style, traits, and behaviour that the vampire figure seems to have experienced. This study has been set out with the objective of examining the character of the vampire Clairmont aimed at exploring the complexity of his multiple identities and demonstrating a shift in his role and traits regarding the traditional vampire. This has been done through a corpus study utilizing a thematic qualitative textual analysis. The study has revealed seven distinct themes related to new vampire characters and their potential to create a hook effect in the aforementioned readers.

Keywords

• corpus linguistics
• new vampire fiction
• literature
• characterization
• thematic qualitative textual analysis