Date of Award
Spring 4-20-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Publication Status
Version of Record
Submission Date
May 2026
Department
English
College Granting Degree
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Department Granting Degree
English
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]
Sika Dagbovie-Mullins
Abstract
This project examines the ways in which the experiences of Black vampires replicate the experiences of the racial passer, especially in Sinners (2025-) and Interview with the Vampire (2022-). While both identities enter their position with the belief that they will gain safety or prosperity—in terms of economic or social freedoms—they are instead subjected to various pains. These pains, for the racial passer and Black vampire, exist in the form of separation from their community and integration into a new system of white hegemony and supremacy through the vampire coven. However, for the Black vampire, these pains are then exacerbated through their immortality, stuck to continue the cycle, just as the racial passer must continue their act of passing once they begin.
Recommended Citation
Searles, Elizabeth, "PASSING ON AND PASSING THROUGH: BLACK VAMPIRISM AS THE MIRROR OF RACIAL PASSING IN SINNERS AND INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE" (2026). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 340.
https://digitalcommons.fau.edu/etd_general/340