FEMST 185GR Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Uncanny Valley, Nzambi A Mpungu, Black Body
Document Summary
Zombies: the walking dead, reanimated corpses; found deep at the bottom of mori"s uncanny valley. Human in form but not connected to us by life. Breach taboos like cannibalism, grave desecration, the strict separation of life & death. Zombie comes from the kongo word for "soul", nzambi; when slaves were brought to haiti & vodou religion grew amidst old african traditions and the harsh conditions of slavery, the idea of the zonbi was born. 80-90% of haitians "serve the spirits" or practice. Vodou: all people die in 2 ways--naturally (sickness, gods" will) and unnaturally (murder, before their time); those who die unnaturally linger at their grave, unable to rejoin ancestors until the gods approve. Souls are vulnerable at this time & are taken advantage of. Zombies as a metaphor for hard life without reward, a loss of control, or a loss of faith; haitians fear becoming a zombie against their will.
