Will they still be dancing? (1982)

people, and can even be seen as giving blood to the community united in the
village by common symbols belonging to the past. Vampirism can be understood
as a form ofancester cult with ancient roots, having been perpetuated
in the special historical situation of Wallachian society. Without strong qnasipolitical
corporate kinship groups and without the idea of a nation-state,
Wallachian migrants and refngees gathered in their villages around a variety of
symbols bolstering social order and common identity. This is still part of the
social meaning of vampires in the modern Scandinavian context. The contradictory
social function of vampires is at once to reproduce social order and
oppression in the family and during socialization. This aspect deserves special
treatment. It can be viewed through the prisms of the Wallachian village and
the Wallachian family.
The Village
As is the case among most Romanian-speaking groups, the Wallachian village
has been the dominant focus for communal identity and corporate solidarity.
Among the South Slavs, the village community is typically crosscut by or
identical with corporate kin groups.
Comparing Romanian and South Slav villages, Chirot (1976) argues:
"The communal village provides an alternative solution to the problems ofland clearing of
a pastoral economy and of insecurity in a sparsely populated area ... Romanian communal
villages were apparently territorial rather than family based units from avery early period
... The old Dacoroman population was quite thoroughly mixed with Slavic elements from
the sixth to the twelth centuries ... From at least the middle ages, villages were probably
composed of mixed ethnic elements. Traditional Romanian villages have long had a
strongly endogamous marriage tradition, while most South Slav communities were
strongly exogamous" (ibid.:153).
In Romania the development of feudal exploitation and the usurpation of
communal village lands by large land owners forced villagers either to break up
and privatize the communal land themselves (ibid.) or to emigrate to regions
characterized by milder forms of exploitation and greater autonomy for the
peasantry.
"In order to protect themselves, villagers had to break the communal solidarity of the
viUage ... The key reason for division ofcommunal lands was protection from exploitation
by rich natives or outsiders ... The general pattern elaborated here spread through
Romania and produced either serfdom or breakup of communal villages." (ibid..'149-50).
As mentioned, the Negotinska Krajina was for prolonged periods a major
immigration region for Romanian peasants east ofthe Danube. Migrants from
Romanian Wallachia, carrying with them their tradition of the village community
and probably composed ofsmall families, would have assimilated with
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