Acknowledgements: To Dr. Hawkins, Dr. Scott and Dr. Constance— thank you so very much from the bottom of my heart for being patient and kind mentors to me. iv Table of Contents Section Page Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………….... 1 Literature Review ………………………………………………………………………………... 2 Why the zombie? Why not another monster? ………………………………………….... 3 The History of the Zombie ………………………………………………………………. 4 Fantastical Zombiism ……………………………………………………………………. 6 Finding Zombie Roots in Haitian Voodoo …………………………………….… 6 The Emergence of the Apocalyptic Model …………………………………….... 7 Today’s Entertainment …………………………………………………………... 9 The Walking Dead: What season are we on now? …………………...… 10 ​ Biological Zombiism ……………………………………………………………...….... 11 Social Zombiism ……………………………………………………………………….. 15 Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) ……………………………………………………... 16 The Definition of Death ………………………………………………... 18 The Idea of the “Soul” …………………………………………………. 18 Other Social Concerns …………………………………………………………. 19 Racial Zombiism ……………………………………………………….. 20 Post 9/11 Ideologies ……………………………………………………. 22 Desiring Zombie-hood …………………………………………………. 23 Gaps Presented Within My Scope of Research ………………………………………………... 24 v Methodology ………………………………………………………………………………….... 26 3-Part Reading …………………………………………………………………………. 26 The Corrections Characters ……………………………………………………………. 28 ​ Chip …………………………………………………………………………….. 28 Alfred …………………………………………………………………………... 34 Enid …………………………………………………………………………….. 42 Denise ………………………………………………………………………….. 47 Gary …………………………………………………………………………….. 53 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………... 56 References …………………………………………………………………………………….... 57 Grassbaugh 1 Introduction While it appears merely to be an other-worldly, flesh-eating, disheveled, slo-mo, green creature in search of blood and guts, the zombie is exponentially more than that, having the unique ability to render humanity helpless as it unearths our deepest fears of stripped bodily authority. The aim of this research is to confront the meanings behind “zombie” by surveying its various representations in society, thereby coming to assess the conceptual “zombie” that cohabitates life with us. The zombie’s means of manifesting itself in a variety of forms allows it to be opportunistic, easily inserting itself into our everyday lives. Author Jonathan Franzen has greatly made his mark on American fiction and other novels— primarily in social realism, through his work, The Corrections (2001). This novel is to ​ ​ be the main source examined in this research project. Franzen’s talent lies in his capability to dredge up every ounce of our vices and indecencies, exposing human nature with the uttermost bluntness. His writings are as captivating as they are both authentic and debilitating. Like the zombie, Franzen easily inserts himself into our everyday lives, utilizing a variety of forms in The ​ Corrections to do so.1 Because he normalizes American mental and physical blights, Franzen’s ​ audience can recognize itself in his work while expressing feelings of fright and terror in response to the sheer truth of his novels. His writings disrupt agency and autonomy, as he details characters losing themselves to the zombie. Without explicitly referencing zombiism, Franzen ​ ​ 1 i.e. mental and physical, to be discussed within the Literature Review. ​ Grassbaugh 2 utilizes the conceptual zombie as a medium to convey the deepest horrors of American life. Tapping into our fears about ourselves and others, Franzen is more than a social-realist author, he is profoundly a zombie author. In bridging the wide gap between the concept “zombie” and contemporary social-realist fiction, I was brought to the following: what is a zombie? On all fronts and facets of human existence, what does “zombie” mean? Is theorizing about “the zombie” legitimate and worthy thinking? Through a culmination of my research I have concluded that essence of zombiism takes the following three forms: Fantastical, Social, and Biological. Each will be discussed in depth within the literature review, in support of and to contextualize my above claim about Franzen and his writings. The history of the zombie then, as well as the driving force behind its unique ability to retain popularity overtime, will be discussed in order to express how and why the conceptual zombie holds such significant weight in our culture in its three distinct forms. As zombiism has been and continues to be a buzzworthy topic— fantastically, socially and biologically— Franzen’s novel The Corrections will aid in demonstrating why. Thus, will ​ ​ conclude the literature review. Following the literature review will be a methods section, applying a three-part methodology that is aimed at revealing how superimposing a zombie-lens atop Franzen’s The Corrections will give rise to the idea that “context breeds a new text”. ​ ​ Supported by secondary Franzen pieces, sources of both zombie fiction and social realism alike, and a number of critics to digest, this thesis will conclude with Franzen successfully identified as an incredibly apt zombie novelist with a knack for horrifying his audiences. Grassbaugh 3 Literature Review This literature review is broken into two distinct parts: 1. Exploring the history and means of continuing the zombie and 2. Assessing the three modes by which I’ve identified zombiism to operate: a) Fantastical b) Biological c) Social. Why the zombie? Why not another monster? The horror genre distinguishes between the zombie and the monster, as both are ​ ​ ​ ​ successful avenues of horror, evoking differing effects. Niall Scott in Monsters and the ​ Monstrous writes, “the monster is perhaps one of the most significant creations serving to reflect ​ and critique human existence.”2 Monsters oftentimes detail some subconscious peril we may be suffering, taking many different forms with differing meanings. For example, the monster under a child’s bed may appear in his dreams due to the unsettling coming to terms with his parents’ divorce— or another, the monster chasing me as I leave a trail of money behind signifies my guilt over dumping all my savings on useless things. Nonetheless, the monster dynamic is one that brings our biggest insecurities to light via some hidden or subconscious symbol— i.e. the money or the bed in the child’s [now broken] home. Scott explains that the intent of the zombie, 2 N. Scott, Monsters and the Monstrous: Myths and Metaphors about Enduring Evil (Amsterdam: Rodopi, ​ ​ ​ 2007), 1. Grassbaugh 4 though, or the undead, is to act as a bridge, having zombie transgressing being and non-being. What is particularly significant of the zombie is that unlike a monster, it “emerges from the human rather than an other-worldly place,” allowing it to be more relatable for the audience.3 No outside symbol is needed in order to draw in meaning, as the meaning lies in the zombie itself. Hence we can designate two separate realms of horror, having zombiism reflect human existence in such a way that allows us to identify far deeper themes than any monster would permit. Scott draws the conclusion that the zombie, then, is a more effective means of horror entertainment than anything else, for its ability to resonate with its human audience in ways that no average monster could. I chose to examine the zombie, as I wanted to target my research toward ways in which the world can explore and exploit human behavior, examining the “human experience” and exactly what that experience entails. In The Corrections, Franzen does a phenomenal job of ​ ​ describing the human experience in its rawest form, disclosing an array of everyday behaviors that, to me, felt to be out of character control. I found his work to be both horrifying and pure, like he’d slapped his audience across the face with just how sad and true it all is; society operates under zombie-like mechanisms each and every day, as people’s individual “zombies” overtake their behavior in ways that mimic the zombie. Due to this, I find Franzen’s fiction to be unavoidably synonymous with zombie fiction. 3 Ibid. ​ Grassbaugh 5 The History of the Zombie The linguistic root of the term “zombie” finds its origination in both Kongo and Haitian culture, dating back all the way to the eighth century. Zombie comes from “nzambi, which in ​ ​ Kongo means ‘spirit of a dead person’ or zonbi, used in the Louisiana Creole or the Haitian ​ ​ Creole that represents a person who died and was then brought to life without speech or free will.”4 Later, in the early to mid-16th century, enters voodoo folklore. Voodoo introduced the term Bokors, who were “Voodoo priests that were concerned with the study and application of ​ ​ black magic, possessing the ability to resurrect the deceased through the administration of coup ​ padre,” coup padre being a powder composed of tetrodotoxin, or more commonly, fou-fou, the ​ ​ ​ poisonous porcupine fish.5 This extremely potent toxin works as it “interferes with the transmission of signals from nerves to muscles and causes an increasing paralysis of the muscles of the body,” thus administering an outward display of zombie-like behavior.6 Ultimately then, a third definition of “zombie” came to exist, specifically “someone who has annoyed his or her family and community to the degree that they can no longer stand to live with this person;” Bokors would be hired to poison those types in the community, casting them out, eradicating the newly generated zombie.7 4 The Anthropology Department at Michigan State University, History of Zombies (2013), 1. ​ ​ ​ 5 Ibid. ​