Sarah Juliet Lauro
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780823234462
- eISBN:
- 9780823241255
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823234462.003.0014
- Subject:
- Literature, Mythology and Folklore
This chapter presents first-hand research of the zombie subculture that is usually termed the zombie walk or zombie mob phenomenon, including descriptions of experiences at these events, where people ...
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This chapter presents first-hand research of the zombie subculture that is usually termed the zombie walk or zombie mob phenomenon, including descriptions of experiences at these events, where people gather in public dressed as zombies—most often, for no apparent reason. In presenting research on the work of two artists/community organizers, Jillian Mcdonald and Thea Munster, the chapter argues that their zombie events blur the line between social protest and performance art, and the chapter demonstrates this by contexualizing the place of these events within a larger framework of art-activist performance that encourages collective participation. Considering this as a new kind of zombie narrative, this chapter questions whether these zombie events operate in a manner that is extra-textual. How do they enable (or at least play with) the principle of the de-subjectifying collective? Are they an imitation of or a surrogate for social rebellion?Less
This chapter presents first-hand research of the zombie subculture that is usually termed the zombie walk or zombie mob phenomenon, including descriptions of experiences at these events, where people gather in public dressed as zombies—most often, for no apparent reason. In presenting research on the work of two artists/community organizers, Jillian Mcdonald and Thea Munster, the chapter argues that their zombie events blur the line between social protest and performance art, and the chapter demonstrates this by contexualizing the place of these events within a larger framework of art-activist performance that encourages collective participation. Considering this as a new kind of zombie narrative, this chapter questions whether these zombie events operate in a manner that is extra-textual. How do they enable (or at least play with) the principle of the de-subjectifying collective? Are they an imitation of or a surrogate for social rebellion?
