Jan L. Perkowski
Encyclopedia
Jan L. Perkowski is originally from Perth Amboy, New Jersey
, and is Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Virginia
. He has three consecutive degrees including a PhD
from Harvard University
. He currently resides in Charlottesville.
He attracted attention when he published research into alleged vampire
folklore
in the 1970s that was easily sensationalized in the press and has a vogue among vampire
fans.
Perkowski wrote about a Kashubian
idiolect
and was employed by the National Museum of Man in Canada in 1968-9 to conduct research for the Canadian Centre for Folk Culture Studies in the area of Wilno, Ontario, to study Kasshubian Polish folklore and traditions. His 1972 report, "Vampires, Dwarves, And Witches Among The Ontario Kashubs" inspired sensational articles in Psychology Today, The Canadian Magazine, and The National Enquirer which got it denounced on the floor of the Canadian House of Commons.
Perkowski was previously employed at the University of California, Santa Barbara
, the University of Texas, Austin, and the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA. He taught classes on Slavic languages, diachronic linguistics, the occult and vampires, and courses such as "How to be a Spy." He is now retired.
In 1989, he published The Darkling: A Treatise on Slavic Vampirism which contains original vampire accounts translated into English from over twenty languages, many for the first time, including a vampire trial in Dubrovnik in 1737. The book is currently being added as a chapter in his forthcoming work Vampire Lore. However, he was best known for teaching an undergraduate class called "Dracula", covering vampire mythology in western culture from ancient times to the present. Perkowski himself approaches the vampire as an outgrowth of the culture in which its legend arose - often more a morality tale than anything else. After his retirement, the course was taken on by his former student Stanley Stepanic, a known noise musician and demonologist
.
Perth Amboy, New Jersey
Perth Amboy is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. The City of Perth Amboy is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 50,814. Perth Amboy is known as the "City by the Bay", referring to Raritan Bay.-Name:The Lenape...
, and is Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
. He has three consecutive degrees including a PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. He currently resides in Charlottesville.
He attracted attention when he published research into alleged vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
in the 1970s that was easily sensationalized in the press and has a vogue among vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
fans.
Perkowski wrote about a Kashubian
Kashubians
Kashubians/Kaszubians , also called Kashubs, Kashubes, Kaszubians, Kassubians or Cassubians, are a West Slavic ethnic group in Pomerelia, north-central Poland. Their settlement area is referred to as Kashubia ....
idiolect
Idiolect
In linguistics, an idiolect is a variety of a language unique to an individual. It is manifested by patterns of vocabulary or idiom selection , grammar, or pronunciations that are unique to the individual. Every individual's language production is in some sense unique...
and was employed by the National Museum of Man in Canada in 1968-9 to conduct research for the Canadian Centre for Folk Culture Studies in the area of Wilno, Ontario, to study Kasshubian Polish folklore and traditions. His 1972 report, "Vampires, Dwarves, And Witches Among The Ontario Kashubs" inspired sensational articles in Psychology Today, The Canadian Magazine, and The National Enquirer which got it denounced on the floor of the Canadian House of Commons.
Perkowski was previously employed at the University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...
, the University of Texas, Austin, and the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA. He taught classes on Slavic languages, diachronic linguistics, the occult and vampires, and courses such as "How to be a Spy." He is now retired.
In 1989, he published The Darkling: A Treatise on Slavic Vampirism which contains original vampire accounts translated into English from over twenty languages, many for the first time, including a vampire trial in Dubrovnik in 1737. The book is currently being added as a chapter in his forthcoming work Vampire Lore. However, he was best known for teaching an undergraduate class called "Dracula", covering vampire mythology in western culture from ancient times to the present. Perkowski himself approaches the vampire as an outgrowth of the culture in which its legend arose - often more a morality tale than anything else. After his retirement, the course was taken on by his former student Stanley Stepanic, a known noise musician and demonologist
Demonology
Demonology is the systematic study of demons or beliefs about demons. It is the branch of theology relating to superhuman beings who are not gods. It deals both with benevolent beings that have no circle of worshippers or so limited a circle as to be below the rank of gods, and with malevolent...
.
Publications
- 1969: A Kashubian Idiolect in the United States
- 1972: Vampires, Dwarves and Witches Among the Ontario Kashubs. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada : 1972
- 1976: Vampires of the Slavs. Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA : Slavica, 1976. ISBN 0-89357-026-5
- 1978: Gusle and Ganga Among the Hercegovinians of Toronto. Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA : University Microfilms International, 1978. ISBN 0-8357-0321-5
- 1982: "The Romanian Folkloric Vampire". East Europe Quarterly, September 1982. Reprinted in The Vampire: A Casebook, Alan Dundes, ed. (University of Wisconsin Press, 1998) ISBN 0-299-15924-8
- 1989: The Darkling: A Treatise on Slavic Vampirism. Columbus, Ohio, USA : Slavica, 1989. ISBN 0-89357-200-4 http://slavica.com/litfolk/lf53.html
- 2000: Linguistic History Engraved in Gold and Silver: Legends on the Coins of St. Vladimir.
- 2006: Vampire Lore: From the Writings of Jan Louis Perkowski. Slavica, 2006. ISBN 0-89357-331-0