#Dracula in Istanbul

[atundratoadstool]

"The impression I had was that we were leaving the West and entering the East; the most western of splendid bridges over the Danube, which is here of noble width and depth, took us among the traditions of Turkish rule."

-- Jonathan Harker in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897)

“Crossing the Danube River, babbling like a living testament to the glorious past of the Turkish nation, my great and famous race, the train carried me to places closely connected with Turkish history. Deep inside me the bitter, sweet, but above all proud and noble feelings fluttered and thrilled in me. I felt a great sense of national pride. What a miracle of the soul these feelings are! The sweet, endless immortality of human societies!”

-- Azmi in Ali Riza Seyfi's Kazıklı Voyvoda, an unauthorized Turkish edition of Dracula in which all the principals live in Istanbul instead of London (1928)

[thebibi]

So, in Drakula 'Istanbul'da, the Turkish novel adaption, Van Helsing (Resuhi) sounds even more desperate to have wanted to see Jack (Afif), and it also implies they hang out every summer? Jack could have just written "Hey wyd" and the professor would have been packing up his things to come over.

“My dear friend, It is such a strange coincidence; I was about to visit you in Istanbul when I received your letter. I have not yet come down to Istanbul this summer. I have very much wished to see you. Even were this not so, I should have rushed to Istanbul after your letter. Tell this truth to your friend whose fiancée is ill: There is no possible way for Doctor Resuhî to refuse any request from the Doctor Afif who courageously sucked the gangrene poison from the wound on my arm caused by a knife thrown by his friend in a moment of anger in the middle of a very important operation. In any event, I am coming soon… Wait for me! RESUHΔ

Also, we joke about how messed up the gangrene incident is in the original novel, but this?? Someone angrily threw A KNIFE in the middle of operating and they NEVER EXPLAINED IT?? Jack saved his life by sucking his blood anyway and not like, idk, RESTRAINING the other guy??? BRO WHAT WERE Y'ALL DOING TO INVITE SUCH CHAOS????

[gellavonhamster]

Reading Dracula in Istanbul (originally Kazıklı Voyvoda (Impaler Voivode), Ali Rıza Seyfioğlu's Turkish translation/adaptation of Dracula) was such a fascinating experience, because at times it is really, really close to Dracula, to the point of individual sentences being recognizable, just paraphrased, at times it reads like a short summary of the source text, and at times omits certain parts of the source text completely. Renfield, for example, isn't there - presumably because the way other characters, especially Seward, treat him in Stoker's novel paints those other characters in less than favourable light, and Seyfioğlu was clearly striving to make his characters role models for his readers. Dr. Afif does not specialize in mental illnesses and isn't nearly as much of a mess as Seward. Azmi and Güzin (Jonathan and Mina) do less than Stoker's Harkers, especially Güzin - there is no attack on her, no threat of turning into vampire, no hypnotism and subsequent spying on Dracula - and Dracula, who is explicitly Vlad the Impaler, is killed by Arthur and Quincey, who doesn't die (yay). Also, it's set in the 20s, so sometimes the characters drive automobiles and talk on the phone, and the flag on the Demeter belongs "to the new Bolshevik Soviet government". And, of course, it's a deeply patriotic text, propagandistic even. But it's still so Dracula. It retains the heart of the text by having the Crew of Light sincerely admire and deeply care about each other, and that made me so happy :')

[weirdlookindog]

Drakula Istanbul'da (1953)

[dodger-chan]

So I finished Dracula in Istanbul and, hmm. There will be spoilers for both books in this post.

Okay, overall it's really good and I do recommend it. Beautifully written, different from Dracula in interesting ways that make them fun to compare. Some of the changes I think even improve on Dracula (personal taste may vary here). Many of the changes are omissions.

No Demeter log, though I did go back and see that a ship is mentioned in Güzin's (Mina's) diary where some (but not all) of the crew dies at sea. I guess Dracula has a bit more self-control here

Less racism. I don't think the scientific racism of "criminal types" had been discredited yet, but whether they were never as popular in Turkey or cut for length but they aren't part of the book

No eye-dialect. Mostly because all the characters who speak that way are cut from the book.

Fewer characters overall. Dracula in Istanbul sticks closely to the polycule (though they seem a bit less romantic).

No Renfield. None at all. The story still works, but I missed him and his fun thematic parallels and Seward stabbing.

More nationalism. Dracula is described as Vlad Tepes specifically to make him an historic enemy

Reshuî (Van Helsing) is much less verbose, and doesn't have any strange analogies.

And now the big spoilers:

There is no chase back to Transylvania. Güzin is never fed on, though they do inexplicably leave her being when they go to hunt Dracula by destroying his boxes of dirt. Turan (Arthur) is the one to kill Dracula and Azmí (Jonathan) is the one writing the ending scene.

I think the ending would have worked better for me if they hadn't inexplicably left Güzin out. When I saw the date was Oct. 3rd, I was excited, because Güzin hadn't been attacked and was ready to cheer the book for showing that not excluding her made it all end faster and smoother. But then, they left her at home for the slaying (saying that they had to but not explaining why, it did not make sense in the moment) and then slayed Dracula that day, just a few pages later.

Also, I think Jonathan striking the killing blow against Dracula is important. He started the story, he should get to finish it.

[complimentaryculler]

archive.org is literally the perfect place on the internet archive.org im kissing you on the mouth rn

[hojiteaversion]

Things I wish Ezel's route explored:

Right now, Ezel is like s1!Laia, Laia is s1!Vlad. He is surrounded by people he loved in the past and he has no idea, while she holds the cards close to her chest

Maybe Laia has not told him who he is, who she is, and what happened because she can't bear the thought of him hurting with that knowledge. And maybe because she suspects Lale suffered the same fate and she can't cope, yet

Ezel and Laia could bond over dying young in their past life

Could have a cute scene of her telling him she took care of Güzellik for him

[grayshadeofpurple]

The presentation about gothic I made in front of the class, was near perfect.

[nesrinslittleworld]

[gretasworld]

Sultan Muhammad Fatih, the real slayer of Dracula, the real Van Helsing.

The one who has been mentined by Prophet Mohammad himself. The conqueror of Constantinople of Byzantine empire and flag bearer of Ottoman Empire.

He is one of the heroic characters in the novel " Prince " and does the job of defeating Dracula as how it went down in history.

[pier-carlo-universe]

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[lesssial]

Trying to figure out the year in Bram's/Fyodor's Backstory

So what I'm looking at is Vlad the impaler's timeline along with a few hints in the manga. But not much Dracula because I haven’t read the book, and also because the book takes place about 400 years later.

So the castle that Bram lived in, for people who don't know, is an actual castle in Transylvania Romania named Bran.

Basic info

-Bran castle was built between 1377 and 1388. (Vlad the impaler never set foot in it but Dracula lived there.)

-Vlad III ruled Wallachia

-Vlad the impaler / Vlad III lived from 1431-1476 (He was defeated by the ottomans not Romans and his head was shipped to Constantinople/Istanbul)

-Vlad III’s reigns; 1448 (For a few months), 1456-62, and 1476-77.

It is a bit hard to truly connect to two while they ruled two different regions (Transylvania & Wallachia)

The knights

In this panel, we can get a look of the types of armor these knights wore.

The majority of the helmets resemble a barbute helmet which was used in the 15th century

The rectangular shields (scutum) mostly disappeared by the end of the 3rd century

Mainly spears and Halberds (The spear ax things) with an occasional sword in the crowd of knights. (Spears were cheaper at the time)

The full body armor became popular between 1400-1500s.

Byzantine empire fell in 1453 while the holy roman empire fell in the 1800s.

What nation are the knights from?

This is the main question. Are these knights from the Holy Roman empire? The Byzantine empire before it fell? Most likely not the ottoman empire due to the amount of christian symbolism. It can’t be the Byzantine empire because they rarely if at all used Halberts. Also the Byzantine empire fell pretty early so it's unlikely they were associated with Bram’s defeat. It seems like the Holy Roman empire however they did not use rectangular shields, favoring a kite or heater shield instead. Then who else?

I couldn't find any good maps

Fyodor mentioned the North (Idk why Bram started blabbering about the west). Do you know what was north of Transylvania? The Kingdom of Hungary who also had a skilled army known as the black army that used rectangular shields and was big on spears and Halberd.

The Hungarian Black army (1458-1494)

From the evidence gathered so far, it must be 1458-76.

King Matthias & the Sultan

Here, Bram asks Fyodor who he serves, either King Matthias (The king of Hungary) or the Sultan (Leader of the Ottomans). Bram was suspicious of the Sultan for the reason that they started eyeing Europe once the Byzantine Empire fell, along with his history with them (Held hostage as a boy). The tension between King Matthias and Vlad III started when Matthias received a letter from the saxons allegedly written by Vlad III in which he offered support to the Ottomans. This was enough to convince Matthias of Vlad III’s treachery so he imprisoned him from 1463 to 1475. Vlad III was intercepted and captured by Matthias after he had escaped Ottoman capture and sought Matthias for assistance. This could be when Bram was defeated in the manga(?) So I guess the year may have been 1462-1463?

Some bonus info that I noticed is that Matthias signed a peace treaty with the Holy Roman empire in 1463. Maybe Bram was defeated after they signed the treaty so they could form some sort of coalition against him (This could explain why the knights all had religious imagery on their helmets).

Another thing is that Bram was impaled(?) alongside two other women. In the Dracula book, I believe it was mentioned there were three female vampires that the protagonist had to defeat before killing Dracula in the castle. This could hint towards the fact that Bram was in the castle when he was attacked and defeated.

(I'm having trouble mixing history and fiction. Fyodor definitely had a hand in this. No way he just came to warn Bram for no reason)

None of these images are mine (I'm sure you know, but just in case)

Yeah that’s all I got, please comment to correct me and/or let me know if you know anything. (Might edit later idk)

[thebibi]

Love how Afif is just as much of a bisexual as Jack is talking about how handsome all his male friends are, and if I'm honest he's more forcoming about it??

Like Afif actually spoke about Resuhi (Van Helsing) and his adventures from medical school when he was deployed together with Touran (Arthur) and Ozdemir (Quincey). He just straight up fanboys "if only there were more mad men like him!" And when the professor gives blood, Afif makes note that now some of his brave and wonderful mentor's blood run through Sadan's (Lucy) veins.

And then with both Touran and Ozdemir, he talks about of course Resuhi would love them because they're just so handsome and brave and cool, it's so much more expressive all at once than how Jack describes them. It's just really unfortunate this intense love for men didn't translate in subsequent future editions.

[gellavonhamster]

randomly remembered this post from the beginning of my dive into Arthuriana, and I'm pleased to see I read almost all I was planning to back then (and much more)

me: I tried reading comics and realized it’s not my cup of tea unless it’s standalone graphic novels or limited series, because I find such amount of canon, even when sticking to specific characters, too extensive and difficult to follow, and different stories/series are often contradictory, which is confusing

also me: already thinking which Arthurian texts to read next having barely finished reading Le Morte 🤡

(the list below was intended for personal use - I obviously cannot recommend things I haven’t read - but then I realized that some of these works are available online/can be downloaded for free because they are public domain, so if I add links, someone else might also find this useful)

Keep reading

[dracula-dictionary]

Dracula Dictionary, July 18th

Varna: a large city in Bulgaria, on the coast of the Black Sea

Whitby: a seaside town in the north of England

silver sand: a fine white sand used in gardening

Bosphorus: The Bosporus Strait, cuts through Istanbul to connect the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara

Backsheesh: a tip, or a bribe paid to expedite services

Dardanelles: a strait that connects the Sea of Marmara to the Mediteranean Sea

Cape Matapan: the southernmost point of Greece

larboard: the left side of a ship

eight bells: referencing the ship's bell that is rung to time watches, with eight strikes per four hour watch. likely meaning 8pm here

deck-house: a cabin on top of a ship's deck

companion-way: a stairway or ladder that leads from one deck to another

bows: the frontmost point of a ship

hatchway: an opening in the deck

allay: calm, put to rest

stem: the most forward part of the bow

stern: the backmost part of the ship

handspike: a wooden bar, typically used in a capstan to raise the anchor

helm: the ship's wheel for steering

abreast: side by side

[dodger-chan]

Question for librarians: my fiction bookshelf is organized alphabetically by author. Should Dracula in Istanbul be filed under Stoker, as the original author, or under Seyfioglu since it is not merely a translation but an adaptation?