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A Critical Discourse Analysis of Popular Culture

We invite you to interact with our digital exhibit to learn more about why the zombie is the most important modern myth of our time.

The Rise of Zombies, The Fall of American Politics

Modern Eugenics is Here: Scientific Racism, Evolution of Discrimination, and Our Obsession with Perfection

Zombie Ethics

Zombie Media, Not as Brainless as it Seems

Engendering Zombie Fiction

How Zombies Inform our Understanding of Racism

Zombies, The Other, & the Spread of Modern Day Fear

Challenging Normal: A Linguistic Exploration of Horror & Sci-Fi

The more the zombie gains notoriety as a cannibalistic anti-human across television, film, and print media, the greater its imprint as an enduring reflection of our human anxieties and fears. This born-digital exhibit offers a thoughtful analysis and creative exploration of zombie media from the perspectives of some of the genre’s most avid connoisseurs. The exhibit is the collaborative effort of students in the Spring 2016 linguistics seminar, Languages of Fear, Racism, and Zombies, with instructor, Professor Jamie A. Thomas at Swarthmore College.

In our examinations of race, gender, and power relations in the discourse of films including White Zombie, Night of the Living Dead, Pontypool, and Warm Bodies, we apply the method of Critical Discourse Analysis in multiple historical, visual, and semiotic constellations. We draw additional connections to the immortality and reanimation of the cells of Henrietta Lacks, and the early exile and objectification of persons deemed as Other, or Wild Men, within Western culture.


Creative Commons License Languages of Fear, Racism, and Zombies / Swarthmore College Linguistics Department