American Zombie Gothic: The Rise and Fall (and Rise) of the Walking Dead in Popular Culture

Zombie stories are peculiarly American, as the creature was born in the New World and functions as a reminder of the atrocities of colonialism and slavery. The voodoo-based zombie films of the 1930s and '40s reveal deep-seated racist attitudes and imperialist paranoia, but the contagious, cannibalistic zombie horde invasion narrative established by George A. Romero has even greater singularity.

This book provides a cultural and critical analysis of the cinematic zombie tradition, starting with its origins in Haitian folklore and tracking the development of the subgenre into the twenty-first century. Closely examining such influential works as Victor Halperin's White Zombie, Jacques Tourneur's I Walked with a Zombie, Lucio Fulci's Zombi 2, Dan O'Bannon's The Return of the Living Dead, Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later, and, of course, Romero's entire "Dead" series, it establishes the place of zombies in the Gothic tradition.

Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

"1115403348"
American Zombie Gothic: The Rise and Fall (and Rise) of the Walking Dead in Popular Culture

Zombie stories are peculiarly American, as the creature was born in the New World and functions as a reminder of the atrocities of colonialism and slavery. The voodoo-based zombie films of the 1930s and '40s reveal deep-seated racist attitudes and imperialist paranoia, but the contagious, cannibalistic zombie horde invasion narrative established by George A. Romero has even greater singularity.

This book provides a cultural and critical analysis of the cinematic zombie tradition, starting with its origins in Haitian folklore and tracking the development of the subgenre into the twenty-first century. Closely examining such influential works as Victor Halperin's White Zombie, Jacques Tourneur's I Walked with a Zombie, Lucio Fulci's Zombi 2, Dan O'Bannon's The Return of the Living Dead, Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later, and, of course, Romero's entire "Dead" series, it establishes the place of zombies in the Gothic tradition.

Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

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American Zombie Gothic: The Rise and Fall (and Rise) of the Walking Dead in Popular Culture

American Zombie Gothic: The Rise and Fall (and Rise) of the Walking Dead in Popular Culture

by Kyle William Bishop
American Zombie Gothic: The Rise and Fall (and Rise) of the Walking Dead in Popular Culture

American Zombie Gothic: The Rise and Fall (and Rise) of the Walking Dead in Popular Culture

by Kyle William Bishop

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Overview

Zombie stories are peculiarly American, as the creature was born in the New World and functions as a reminder of the atrocities of colonialism and slavery. The voodoo-based zombie films of the 1930s and '40s reveal deep-seated racist attitudes and imperialist paranoia, but the contagious, cannibalistic zombie horde invasion narrative established by George A. Romero has even greater singularity.

This book provides a cultural and critical analysis of the cinematic zombie tradition, starting with its origins in Haitian folklore and tracking the development of the subgenre into the twenty-first century. Closely examining such influential works as Victor Halperin's White Zombie, Jacques Tourneur's I Walked with a Zombie, Lucio Fulci's Zombi 2, Dan O'Bannon's The Return of the Living Dead, Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later, and, of course, Romero's entire "Dead" series, it establishes the place of zombies in the Gothic tradition.

Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780786448067
Publisher: McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date: 02/09/2010
Series: Contributions to Zombie Studies
Edition description: New Edition
Pages: 247
Sales rank: 744,986
Product dimensions: 5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

Kyle William Bishop is an associate professor of English and film studies and serves as the Honors Program Director at Southern Utah University in Cedar City, Utah. He has presented and published on a number of zombie-related texts and has authored two other monographs with McFarland.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     
Foreword by Jerrold E. Hogle     
Preface     
Introduction—The Zombie Film and Its Cycles     

1—RAISING THE LIVING DEAD
The Folkloric and Ideological Origins of the Voodoo Zombie     
2—THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE
Imperialist Hegemony and the Cinematic Voodoo Zombie     
3—THE RISE OF THE NEW PARADIGM
Night of the Living Dead and the Zombie Invasion Narrative     
4—THE DEAD WALK THE EARTH
The Triumph of the Zombie Social Metaphor in Dawn of the Dead     
5—HUMANIZING THE LIVING DEAD
The Evolution of the Zombie Protagonist     

Conclusion—The Future Shock of Zombie Cinema     
Filmography     
Chapter Notes     
Bibliography     
Index     
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