Globalization and the Rise of Zombie Myths
In this article, I will examine the rationale behind various myths in our lives and what contributed to their popularity.
Myths are not necessarily fictional; sometimes, they are like history, explaining the past from a particular point of view. They often teach us quintessential lessons, serving as key scenarios in distinct cultures. Key scenarios are “dominant stories or myths that portray the values and beliefs of a specific society” (Robbins 2017:104). Zombies, for example, are a dominant theme in North American society. There are countless books, movies and video games that chose zombies as their principal theme. There is even a genre named “zombie apocalypse.” All of this affects how we see and understand the world. In other words, it shapes our worldview (an encompassing picture of reality based on shared cultural assumptions about how the world works).
Zombies explain phenomenons, particularly the idea of death and fear. The earlier notion of zombie pandemics directly relates to fears regarding avian flu, ebola and H1N1. Interestingly, immigration is frequently blamed for spreading disease and other social ills since zombie stories are linked with the fear of mobile “others” (Robbins 2017:105). As Robbins puts it, “zombie stories are a metaphorical exploration of our fears and desires in our global, capitalist, economy” (Robbins 2017:104). Before going on and exploring the global aspect of myths such as zombies, I will examine how zombies are seen as metaphors in North American culture. I will also point to the connection between the rise of zombie myths and globalization.
Metaphors, as anthropology explains, are borrowing from one domain of experience and applying to another (Robbins 2017:96). An excellent example of this would be how the English language borrows from the domain of war to explain health and disease. Metaphors are tools for constructing worldview and explaining phenomena such as fear and death. What makes zombies such a convincing metaphor in today’s globalized world is their insatiable, never-ending appetite. Zombies work without ceasing and for little reward and do not have a sense of consciousness and thus lack critical thinking ability.
We fear zombies because of their unpredictability and the potential chaos they can unleash upon us. Notably, zombies are a thing in Canada and across many countries in Europe and North America. Why are zombies so popular, and does their popularity have any connection with globalization? (“the intensification of worldwide social relations that link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away, and vice versa” (Robbins 2017:222). I hypothesize that the popularity of zombies has to do with them being a key metaphor for fear and death. It also seems that there is a link between zombies and globalization; the latter I will explore with more relevant details down below.
In an article published by Joseph Gillings of The Washington Post, Gillings explores the connections between zombie obsessions and the fear of globalization. Gillings states that we live in “societies dominated by an overarching anxiety reflecting the risk associated with each unpredictable scientific development” (Gillings 2015). More specifically, Gillings is talking about nuclear weapons and terrorism. Today, we are often reminded of the terrorism around us; the atrocities terrorists have cost our world over the past few years are enormous. The shock of the Paris Charlie Hebdo attack, the Copenhagen shootings and 9/11 are still fresh in our memory. As a result of our globalized media, this fear is spread worldwide. As the fear of terrorism is distributed worldwide, zombies become a metaphor upon which we can pin this fear.
Now let’s consider the facts that terrorists often hide among us, so the conflict is no longer the opposing army in wars but the hearts and minds of those around us. This fear of terrorists being around us, explained by Gillings, contributes to the popularity of zombies. His hypothesis is supported because zombie genres grew massively over the past 15 years, in the same time frame as the rise of global terrorism. “Modern zombies are the product of this globalized, risk-conscious world. No longer the work of a single “mad” scientist re-animating the dead” (Gillings 2015).
Zombie myths are a fascinating aspect of North American culture, and one can argue that their popularity has to do with them being a key metaphor in our world. Zombies contribute to our worldview and explain vital components of societies, such as death and fear. Zombies also share destructive similarities with globalization, making them both entertaining and terrifying. Myths such as zombies are an essential part of globalization, and conquering our fear of them can teach us priceless lessons of how to live in a globalized world.
References:
Gillings, J. (2019, March 1). How our zombie obsession explains our fear of globalization. The Washington Post. Retrieved September 11, 2021, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/02/23/how-our-zombie-obsession-explains-our-fear-of-globalization/.
Robbins, R. H. (2017). Sociocultural anthropology: A problem-based approach (3rd ed.). Nelson Education.
