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 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.