Edward P. Comentale - The Years Work at the Zombie Research Center

The Years Work at the ZOMBIE Research Center

THE YEARS WORK:
STUDIES IN FAN CULTURE AND CULTURAL THEORY

Edward P. Comentale and Aaron Jaffe, editors

Edited by

EDWARD P. COMENTALE
& AARON JAFFE

This book is a publication of

Indiana University Press
Office of Scholarly Publishing
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2014 by Indiana University Press
All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.

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MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

The years work at the Zombie
Research Center / edited by Edward P. Comentale and Aaron Jaffe.

pages cm (The years work: studies in fan culture and cultural theory)

Most of the essays were first presented at a symposium held at the University of Louisville in 2012.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-0-253-01387-3 (pb : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-253-01382-8 (cl : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-253-01392-7 (eb) 1. ZombiesCongresses. I. Comentale, Edward P., editor. II. Jaffe, Aaron, editor.

GR581.Y43 2014
398.21dc23

2014007386

1 2 3 4 5 19 18 17 16 15 14

To those who watched them with us and those who wouldnt

By heaven and hell, and all the fools between them,
I will not die, nor sleep, nor wink my eyes,
But think myself into a god; old Death
Shall dream he has slain me, and Ill creep behind him,
Thrust off the bony tyrant from his throne
And beat him into dust. Or I will burst
Damnations iron egg, my tomb, and come
Half damned, ere they make lightning of my soul,
And creep into thy carcase as thou sleepest
Between two crimson fevers. Ill dethrone
The empty skeleton, and be thy death,
A death of grinding madness.Fear me now;
I am a devil, not a human soul

THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES, Hard Dying

Were grateful to our editor Raina Polivka, Jenna Whittaker, and Nancy Lightfoot and the other professionals at Indiana University Press. We also owe thanks to Jill R. Hughes and the anonymous readers selected by the press, whose input made this a stronger book. Wed like to acknowledge the sustaining support of our colleagues at the University of Louisville and Indiana University. Our students deserve special mentionin particular, the University of Louisville honors students in English 402 (Brains! Literature, Culture, and Zombies) and the Indiana University freshmen in C103 (Zombies and the Cultures of Fear). Most of the work in this volume was first presented at a symposium held at the University of Louisville in 2012, supported by the generosity of our chairs and our departments as well as the Commonwealth Center for the Humanities at the University of Louisville, led by Tom Byers. Were grateful to the many colleagues and friends who attended and participated, including Tom Byers, Jennifer Stephens, Amy Clukey, Lucy Swanson, Nicole Seymour, Steven Pokornowski, Ben Creech, Justy Engle, Andrew Cooper, Dennis Allen, Guy Dove, Lee Cole, Rodrigo Paula, Glynis Ridley, Sarah Hopfer, Jesse Molesworth, Andrew Rabin, Karen Hadley, Cynthia Burkhead, Michael Miller, Hannah Harrison, Caleb Magyar, Daniel Conrad, and Tracy Heightchew. We are most thankful for the continued support of our two families; this volume would not be possible without their steady patience and generosity.

We thank the publisher for permission to reprint Talking in Bed from The Complete Poems of Philip Larkin, by Philip Larkin, edited by Archie Burnett. Copyright 2012 by The Estate of Philip Larkin. Introduction copyright 2012 by Archie Burnett. Reprinted by permission of Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, LLC, and Faber and Faber Ltd.

The Years Work at the ZOMBIE Research Center

Were sure youve noticed that zombies are everywhere these days. Why else would you be reading this book? As it says in the stairwell: THE END IS EXTREMELY FUCKING NIGH. [#zombies.] In the bunker, out on the rooftop, inside and out back, stalking the horizon, zombies pose significant threats to both human identity and human civilization. Who are they? What do they want? How do they think? What do they mean? The recent explosion of zombies in film, literature, graphic novels, video games, and fan culture is inescapable. Even sociology, philosophy, and literary theory have gotten into the zombie act, elaborating core concepts around borrowings from this undead corner of pop culture. But who has time to read a booklet alone a tome as hefty as The Years Work at the Zombie Research Centerduring a zombie apocalypse? Perhaps youre curious about your world. (A little late, no?) Perhaps you need a few tips. In this book well look at zombie cult classics; historical documents from America, Europe, and the Caribbean; and some zombie theory by philosophers, sociologists, and literary theorists. Well also consult some of the more recent hits from the ever growing zombie corpus in order to explore the contemporary meanings of the zombie and the zombie world. At the Zombie Research Center weve grown desensitized to the groans and eye rolls that names like Freud, Derrida, or Lacan sometimes elicit.