A recent edition of the “MTSU On the Record” radio program features a scholar who sees a unique connection between “Dracula” and the current crisis in Ukraine.

Dr. Jimmie Cain

Host Gina Logue’s interview with Dr. Jimmie Cain, a professor of English,  aired earlier this month on WMOT-FM (89.5 and www.wmot.org ). You can listen to their conversation here.

Cain is the author of “Bram Stoker and Russophobia,” which explores the role that fear and mistrust of Russia played in Bram Stoker’s novels.

Stoker, who published “Dracula” in 1897, had a brother who fought in the Crimean War. The conflict lasted from 1853 to 1856 with the Russians losing to a Western alliance.

Stoker’s brother kept a war journal that inspired Stoker’s creation of his famous vampire character. Thus, Dracula became a symbol of Russia’s belligerence and terrorism.

Cain sees the “Russophobia” prompted by the Crimean War and validated by Stoker as analogous to the post-Cold War “Russophobia” prompted by Russia’s recent annexation of Crimea.

“I would contend that many [Russians] see the way the Crimean crisis was played up as evidence of the same kind of thing the British would have noticed in the 1830s as people … were beginning to ramp up this anti-Russian fervor in the press,” Cain said.

To listen to previous “MTSU On the Record” programs, go to the “Audio Clips” archives here and here.

For more information about “MTSU On the Record,” contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.

A video clip of the interview may be seen below.