Will they still be dancing? (1982)

Among the Wallachians, the vampire belongs to a comprehensive mythology
ofdeath and elaborate mortuary rituals. In spite ofcontinuing processes of
social and material change in the period after World War II, this mythology
and its associated rituals still survive in the present (Zecevic 1974). It plays an
important role in social and cultural life in towns as well as in villages.'
Milorad's struggle with the vampire shows how beliefs like the ancestor cult
integrate with mechanisms of social control used in Wallachian immigrant
communities in Scandinavia. The question, "Why are vampires still alive?",
requires us to look back into Wallachian history and to examine the nature of
the village community and the family in Wallachian society. Chapter Nine
presents a more detailed discussion of the meaning of "traditional" forms of
belief and organization among Wallachians in Scandinavia.
"The Blood Drenched Shirt of the Krajina"
The Wallachians in Scandinavia come from the historical region ofNegotinska
Krajinagin northeastern Serbia. The area lies on the Yugoslav side of the
Danube, bordering the historical province of Wallachia in today's Romania.
TheWallachians in the Krajina speak dialects of Romanian, which they do not
use as a written language. Linguistically and culturally, the Wallachians are
clearly distinguishable from the Serbs, the other major ethnic group in the
Krajina.8 However, their speech contains many Serbian words and phrases,
and Serbian is also the Wallachians' written language.
Although they speak "vlaSki"'in the family and the village context, according
to Wallachian folk mythology Serbian is their original mother tongue. They
also regard themselves as Serbians by nationality and historical origin.!O Today's
Wallachians ofNegotinska Krajina carry Serbian names and surnames ll
and practice the ritual of the slava!2, which is specific to the Serbian branch of
the Orthodox Church. Here they differ from groups of Romanian speaking
minorities of Yugoslavia (Vojvodina), who carry Romanian names and surnames
and affiliate themselves nationally to the Romanian nationality in
Yugoslavia,!'
Today's Wallachian ethnic group in Serbia is the result ofa long and complex
process of ethnocultural amalgamation (Barjaktarovic 1973). Besides primeval
Balkanic roots and early Roman influences, the most important component
of Wallachian cultural history is later Slavic influences, predominantly
Serbian. Previously settledpopulations in the Krajina region blended with Slav
immigrants and later with Romanian-speaking refugees from the historical
region of Wallachia beyond the Danube.
Due to its geographical position and specific legal-political status, the
Negotinska Krajina was for centuries a favourable immigration area for Romanian
peasants from beyond the Danube.
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