In Goth, there is a need for a culture exchange by characters and readers. In a culture exchange, a stranger is brought to a stranger place with unknown prospect, light or dark. In the “Inca Mummy Girl” episode, Ampata, the Inca princess, is a stranger in Buffy’s world who had a “light” prospect. The princess is a 500-years old mummy who has given a chance to return to life and becomes Buffy’s exchange student. Ampata has been living in the coffin that’s been displayed in museums all this time, thus her whole world is limited to the museum celling and visitors’ conversations. Therefore, her whole worldview is mostly remained as of 500-years ago. Ampata needs to borrow Buffy’s cloth, uses her makeup, and asks Buffy to fill her in so she would not feel and look like a complete stranger in her new world. In her new life, Ampata experienced her first love, her first kiss, her first dance. Thus, the Inca Mummy succeeded in blending in, so well that a guy opened up his heart to her, showing his complete trust.
In “Dracula”, Jonathan, a solicitor, is a stranger in Dracula’s world who had a “dark” prospect. Since Dracula purchased a property in England, Jonathan travels to where Dracula lives for legal paper works. Jonathan is traveling through new places where people act strangely towards him knowing his destination. He feels like a stranger: people in groups talking in langue he knows not and looking pitiful at him; an elder woman giving him a crucifix against his religion; his carriage taking him away from Dracula’s castle. In Dracula’s castle, Jonathan experiences stranger and dark things, which helps him to understand this new place a bit more, local’s strange behavior doesn’t seems so strange anymore. Everyday Jonathan wishes to escape from the castle for he fears for his life everyday.
Before we enter Goth, the readers need to go through this culture exchange. The readers are the strangers who need to adapt to how people live and talk in Goth. However, knowing its Goth, we know the prospect will be dark.
Interesting comparison and analysis, but to what extent do you think readers need to learn to live and talk in Goth to appreciate (for lack of a better word) what is going on in the text?
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