The werewolf represents Europe’s own uncivilized rural lower classes.
Evidence
The werewolf, although not examined here, is a monster representing the uncivilized country folk of Europe—a symbol of primitivism, illiteracy, racial impurity, and the importance of social class. — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 1279
Categorization
Category: Definitional Content
- XREF: Contrast monster type for the reader’s taxonomy: werewolf figures the internal ‘other’ of class, while the Muslim monster figures the external religious other.
Related
- The werewolf symbolizes Europe’s uncivilized rural poor (similarity 0.95)
- European werewolves encoded class fears of uncivilized country folk (similarity 0.92)
Broader Connections
- Dracula embodies a hybrid Ottomanized-European identity that violates stable categories
#expands(0.65) — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 537