Vampirettes, Wretches, and Amazons: Western Representations of East European Women

This collection traces some of the major patterns of representation of East European women in Western art and culture, drawing careful connections between these philosophical, artistic, and cultural constructions and actual historical, sociopolitical realities.

The articles analyze a wide array of forms of representation―narrative, theater, opera, journalism, film, and media―over a period of two centuries, in order to demonstrate that certain stereotypical and simplistic views of East European women have long been perpetuated in the Western world. Furthermore, these essays assert that the treatment of women in a given society is directly linked to the ways in which they are seen and represented in the imagination and artistic constructions of that culture.