Zombies as a Cultural Lesson

Long before the American cultivated the culture undead, other regions from Caribbean imperialism and African bondage believed in the zombies.  Earlier cultures of western African region (Haiti) zombie originated from witchcraft and magic practices mostly in religions such as Santeria and Voodoo.  Haiti zombies are claimed to be persons resurrected from the death through houngor and bokors magical methods. Zombification sometimes was used to symbolize punishment, but frequently the zombies were claimed to provide labor for the sugarcane plantations.  Zombies were very familiar characters in the Caribbean culture (Luckhurst, 2015). The voodoo worshiping culture lead to the rising of the dead and the zombie’s beliefs evolved from such activities.

Haiti culture considered that people turned into zombies as a result of a definitive punishment for their wrongdoings against the community. In addition, zombies described the Haitian slavery conditions as incredibly brutal. Luckhurst (2015) argue that Slaves were undernourished and overworked. Besides, they suffered from extreme punishment.  Therefore, suicide was considered frequently opposed to these extreme slavery punishments, but the fear of soulless zombies deterred them from ending their lives or committing other crimes (Luckhurst, 2015). Therefore, Haiti used the zombie culture as a method of maintaining social order. Even in the present era, the stereotypes associated with zombie culture are based on the voodoo.

Haitian zombies are very different from the way American society portrays them. America society portrays zombies as a plague a viral virus that affects people while Haitian zombification is an issue of witchcraft and worship. American society uses the zombie culture as a metaphor to symbolize the current struggles of living human against the undead hordes. In the modern era, the world is against the human being survival, and only the fittest persist. Also, the culture in America society portrays zombies as a metaphor for the immediate circle of social disorder.  Sociology claim zombification to be pop culture due to the global capitalization. However, the answer to the popularity of zombie culture is the generational resignation, struggles and the disbelieve in the promise of the future.  For Haiti culture, zombies are described as real creatures who served as punishment for crimes against humanity while in American society it is just imagination.

Zombies elucidate the netherworld between life and death. Life-in-death is a perfect symbol for capitalism logic, the deathlike regimentation of social spaces, factories or motivated clients stimulation. Zombies exemplify the Marxist working society. Pielak and Cohen (2017), state that the netherworld portrayed by zombies is the lack of comfort in humanity. Besides, it describes the implacable, unstoppable, unreasonable and primitive human determined in destroying civilization and changing other individuals into subhuman (Pielak & Cohen, 2017). Zombie is basically a version of thoughts on what is like to return after death.  Possibly, zombies represent the increasing immoral behavior that will lead to the end of humanity.  In the society, people do not know what to fear, death or pandemics, terrorism, economic collapse, global warming and nuclear weapon. Zombies are illustrating the netherworld encompassing all these struggles. Therefore, zombies are the stand-in for life fears such a pervasive threats, racism and how they influence relationships in the society.

 

References

Luckhurst, R. (2015). Zombies: A cultural history. Reaktion Books.

Pielak, C., & Cohen, A. H. (2017). Living with zombies: Society in apocalypse in film, literature and other media.Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, Inc., Publishers.

 
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