Dead, White and Blue - The Zombie and American National Identity

Science fiction and horror television shows predict how the world might be different if zombies were real, or if artificial intelligence could develop consciousness. Pop culture critics reveal that these not-quite humans are often proxies for race, and the post-apocalyptic landscapes set the stage for reimagining social and political institutions.
This book advances horror scholarship by placing those stories within a long tradition of mythologizing U.S. history. It demonstrates how Disney's Zombies reenacts the civil rights movement, how The Walking Dead fulfills Thoreau's fantasy against the backdrop of founding a new nation, and how Westworld permits visitors to experience the Old West while bearing witness to Indian Removal. Each of these narratives imagines a future that retells the past. The chapters within look at that tradition in order to understand the present.

List of contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments deletevi

Preface

Introduction

Chapter

Myths of Colonial America

Chapter

Lakota Ghost Dance and the Imaginary Frontier

Chapter Three

Caribbean and Gothic Origins of the American Zombie

Chapter Four

Social Critique and the Modern Zombie

Chapter Five

Civil Rights Movement Retold in Disney Zombies

Chapter

Destiny Manifested in Westworld's Philosophical Zombies

Conclusion

Chapter Notes

Bibliography

Index

About the author

Aaron W Clayton is professor of English at Frederick Community College in Frederick, Maryland.

Summary

Demonstrates how Disney’s Zombies reenacts the civil rights movement, how The Walking Dead fulfills Thoreau’s fantasy against the backdrop of founding a new nation, and how Westworld permits visitors to experience the Old West while bearing witness to Indian Removal. Each of these narratives imagines a future that retells the past.

Product details

• Authors: Aaron W Clayton
• Publisher: Ingram Publishers Services
• Languages: English
• Age Recommendation: from age 18
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 29.05.2023
• EAN: 9781476684932
• ISBN: 978-1-4766-8493-2
• No. of pages: 207
• Dimensions: 152 mm x 229 mm x 11 mm
• Weight: 277 g
• Illustrations: Raster,schwarz-weiss
• Series: Contributions to Zombie Studies
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Photography, film, video, TV; USA, Television, PERFORMING ARTS / Television / General, HISTORY / Americas (North, Central, South, West Indies), United States of America, USA, History of the Americas, Performing arts genres: Science fiction, fantasy and horror