The Undead and Theology
Title | The Undead and Theology PDF eBook |
Author | Kim Paffenroth |
Publisher | Wipf and Stock Publishers |
Pages | 297 |
Release | 2012-09-21 |
Genre | Religion |
ISBN | 1610978757 |
The academy and pop culture alike recognize the great symbolic and teaching value of the undead, whether vampires, zombies, or other undead or living-dead creatures. This has been explored variously from critiques of consumerism and racism, through explorations of gender and sexuality, to consideration of the breakdown of the nuclear family. Most academic examinations of the undead have been undertaken from the perspectives of philosophy and political theory, but another important avenue of exploration comes through theology. Through the vampire, the zombie, the Golem, and Cenobites, contributors address a variety of theological issues by way of critical reflection on the divine and the sacred in popular culture through film, television, graphic novels, and literature.
The Walking Dead and Philosophy
Title | The Walking Dead and Philosophy PDF eBook |
Author | Wayne Yuen |
Publisher | Open Court Publishing |
Pages | 280 |
Release | 2012 |
Genre | Performing Arts |
ISBN | 0812697677 |
"The Walking Dead" is both a hugely successful comics series and a popular TV show. This epic story of a zombie apocalypse is unique. It focuses on the long-term individual, social, and moral consequences of survival by small groups of humans in a world overrun by infected zombies. Guns, chainsaws, and machetes are not enough for survival: humans also need agreement on rules of conduct. Can equality or fairness have any polace in the post-apocalyptic world? Do theft or even assault and murder become okay under desperate circumstances? Who should be recognized as having political authority? What about eating human flesh? Should survivors have children?
Faith and the Zombie
Title | Faith and the Zombie PDF eBook |
Author | Simon Bacon |
Publisher | McFarland |
Pages | 291 |
Release | 2023-03-27 |
Genre | Performing Arts |
ISBN | 147664764X |
Themes of faith and religion have been threaded through popular representations of the zombie so often that they now seem inextricably linked. Whether as mindless servants to a Vodou Bokor or as evidence of the impending apocalypse, the ravenous undead have long captured something of society's relationships with spirituality, religion and belief. By the start of the 21st century, religious beliefs are as varied as the many manifestations of the zombie itself, and both themes intersect with various ideological, environmental and even post-human concerns. This book surveys the various modern religious associations in zombie media. Some characters believe that the undead are part of God's plan, others theorize that the environment might be saving itself or that zombies might be predicting life and hybridity beyond human existence. Timely and important, this work is a meditation on how faith might not just be a forerunner to the apocalypse, but the catalyst to new kinds of life beyond it.
Zombies, Vampires, and Philosophy
Title | Zombies, Vampires, and Philosophy PDF eBook |
Author | Richard Greene |
Publisher | Open Court Publishing |
Pages | 340 |
Release | 2010 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 0812696832 |
"A collection of philosophical essays about the undead: beings such as vampires and zombies who are physically or mentally dead yet not at rest. Topics addressed include the metaphysics and ethics of undeath"--Provided by publisher.
Dharma of the Dead
Title | Dharma of the Dead PDF eBook |
Author | Christopher M. Moreman |
Publisher | McFarland |
Pages | 244 |
Release | 2018-07-13 |
Genre | Religion |
ISBN | 1476672490 |
With the increased popularity of zombies in recent years, scholars have considered why the undead have so captured the public imagination. This book argues that the zombie can be viewed as an object of meditation on death, a memento mori that makes the fact of mortality more approachable from what has been described as America's "death-denying culture." The existential crisis in zombie apocalyptic fiction brings to the fore the problem of humanity's search for meaning in an increasingly global and secular world. Zombies are analyzed in the context of Buddhist thought, in contrast with social and religious critiques from other works.
Handling the Undead
Title | Handling the Undead PDF eBook |
Author | John Ajvide Lindqvist |
Publisher | Macmillan |
Pages | 449 |
Release | 2010-09-28 |
Genre | Fiction |
ISBN | 1429940697 |
In his new novel, John Ajvide Lindqvist does for zombies what his previous novel, Let the Right One In, did for vampires. Across Stockholm the power grid has gone crazy. In the morgue and in cemeteries, the recently deceased are waking up. One grandfather is alight with hope that his grandson will be returned, but one husband is aghast at what his adored wife has become. A horror novel that transcends its genre by showing what the return of the dead might really mean to those who loved them.
Gospel of the Living Dead
Title | Gospel of the Living Dead PDF eBook |
Author | Kim Paffenroth |
Publisher | Baylor University Press |
Pages | 202 |
Release | 2006 |
Genre | Performing Arts |
ISBN | 1932792651 |
This volume connects American social and religious views with the classic American movie genre of the zombie horror film. This study proves that George Romero's films go beyond the surface experience of repulsion to probe deeper questions of human nature and purpose, often giving a chilling and darkly humorous critique of modern, secular America.