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Zombies in Western Culture: A Twenty-First Century Crisis
Why has the zombie become such a pervasive figure in twenty-first-century popular culture? John Vervaeke, Christopher Mastropietro and Filip Miscevic seek to answer this question by arguing that particular aspects of the zombie, common to a variety of media forms, reflect a crisis in modern Western culture.
The authors examine the essential features of the zombie, including mindlessness, ugliness and homelessness, and argue that these reflect the outlook of the contemporary West and its attendant zeitgeists of anxiety, alienation, disconnection and disenfranchisement. They trace the relationship between zombies and the theme of secular apocalypse, demonstrating that the zombie draws its power from being a perversion of the Christian mythos of death and resurrection. Symbolic of a lost Christian worldview, the zombie represents a world that can no longer explain itself, nor provide us with instructions for how to live within it.
The concept of 'domicide' or the destruction of home is developed to describe the modern crisis of meaning that the zombie both represents and reflects. This is illustrated using case studies including the relocation of the Anishinaabe of the Grassy Narrows First Nation, and the upheaval of population displacement in the Hellenistic period. Finally, the authors invoke and reformulate symbols of the four horseman of the apocalypse as rhetorical analogues to frame those aspects of contemporary collapse that elucidate the horror of the zombie.
Zombies in Western Culture: A Twenty-First Century Crisis is required reading for anyone interested in the phenomenon of zombies in contemporary culture. It will also be of interest to an interdisciplinary audience including students and scholars of culture studies, semiotics, philosophy, religious studies, eschatology, anthropology, Jungian studies, and sociology.
The authors examine the essential features of the zombie, including mindlessness, ugliness and homelessness, and argue that these reflect the outlook of the contemporary West and its attendant zeitgeists of anxiety, alienation, disconnection and disenfranchisement. They trace the relationship between zombies and the theme of secular apocalypse, demonstrating that the zombie draws its power from being a perversion of the Christian mythos of death and resurrection. Symbolic of a lost Christian worldview, the zombie represents a world that can no longer explain itself, nor provide us with instructions for how to live within it.
The concept of 'domicide' or the destruction of home is developed to describe the modern crisis of meaning that the zombie both represents and reflects. This is illustrated using case studies including the relocation of the Anishinaabe of the Grassy Narrows First Nation, and the upheaval of population displacement in the Hellenistic period. Finally, the authors invoke and reformulate symbols of the four horseman of the apocalypse as rhetorical analogues to frame those aspects of contemporary collapse that elucidate the horror of the zombie.
Zombies in Western Culture: A Twenty-First Century Crisis is required reading for anyone interested in the phenomenon of zombies in contemporary culture. It will also be of interest to an interdisciplinary audience including students and scholars of culture studies, semiotics, philosophy, religious studies, eschatology, anthropology, Jungian studies, and sociology.
104 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
December 25, 2019
I have been a fan of Vervaeke for a while, and I was excited when he finally published a book. At the time it was almost $50, although now the price seems to have come down to a regular paperback ($15 or so), and it's even online for free as an ebook - Google "openbookpublishers zombies".
The book is largely within the theme of his newest and most famous lecture series of the "meaning crisis", although here it explores it in the very particular context of the zombie myth.
Myths provide structure to a culture. In narrative form, it gives us an existential map of why we are here, where we came from and what will happen in the future. Myths can have many forms, but they often include monsters, and those monsters have several symbolic purposes, which aren't necessarily explicit. For example, in the 20th century, the alien was one of the most popular "monster" stories, representing the fear of the "other" - the foreigner.
The book argues that our current myth is the zombie, and it's the monster that represents our society. The zombie symbol is the anti-tradegy. In the classical Greek tradegy, suffering nevertheless can still have meaning and purpose. Most zombies stories do not have an end. It is a perversion of the Christian mythos of death and resurrection. There is no salvation, no redemption.
Zombies have no language - they lack Logos and cannot transmit truth. They are not self aware - they can't represent themselves and have meaningful cognition that frames the environment. They eat brains because they are hungry to have a "mind", to acquire intelligibility. Yet, they can never have it. They are stuck in an eternal and hopeless cycle of wanting, no matter how much they eat, their hunger persists. They do not have a Home, they don't belong anywhere - they drift in a completely random manner. Zombies are all isolated from each other. They are infected, and infection is transmitted by touch. It is the antithesis of intimacy, and it's hard if not impossible to not get infected.
They are such a powerful symbol because zombies are us, the modern man. They are a monster of nihilism. All the features that the zombie has is a representation of what our culture and society has become and where it is headed. The authors explore this connection in great detail, going through each detail and explaining the causal connection of both the myth to the culture and what led to our current cultural paradigm. It's very well written and well-argued for, I highly recommend it!
The book is largely within the theme of his newest and most famous lecture series of the "meaning crisis", although here it explores it in the very particular context of the zombie myth.
Myths provide structure to a culture. In narrative form, it gives us an existential map of why we are here, where we came from and what will happen in the future. Myths can have many forms, but they often include monsters, and those monsters have several symbolic purposes, which aren't necessarily explicit. For example, in the 20th century, the alien was one of the most popular "monster" stories, representing the fear of the "other" - the foreigner.
The book argues that our current myth is the zombie, and it's the monster that represents our society. The zombie symbol is the anti-tradegy. In the classical Greek tradegy, suffering nevertheless can still have meaning and purpose. Most zombies stories do not have an end. It is a perversion of the Christian mythos of death and resurrection. There is no salvation, no redemption.
Zombies have no language - they lack Logos and cannot transmit truth. They are not self aware - they can't represent themselves and have meaningful cognition that frames the environment. They eat brains because they are hungry to have a "mind", to acquire intelligibility. Yet, they can never have it. They are stuck in an eternal and hopeless cycle of wanting, no matter how much they eat, their hunger persists. They do not have a Home, they don't belong anywhere - they drift in a completely random manner. Zombies are all isolated from each other. They are infected, and infection is transmitted by touch. It is the antithesis of intimacy, and it's hard if not impossible to not get infected.
They are such a powerful symbol because zombies are us, the modern man. They are a monster of nihilism. All the features that the zombie has is a representation of what our culture and society has become and where it is headed. The authors explore this connection in great detail, going through each detail and explaining the causal connection of both the myth to the culture and what led to our current cultural paradigm. It's very well written and well-argued for, I highly recommend it!
May 14, 2018
The first half of this book made sense, but hadn't really caught my attention. It was too literal, and I thought I had somehow missed the point. However, the latter half of this book beautifully presented ideas about the meaning-crisis rampant in today's society. Absolutely worth the read.
December 29, 2019
Outstanding and insightful work
This book is an eye-opener to what is currently happening around us. No solutions offered, but it succeeds to diagnose the problem of the meaning crisis and provide a viable explanation as to how we got here.
This book is an eye-opener to what is currently happening around us. No solutions offered, but it succeeds to diagnose the problem of the meaning crisis and provide a viable explanation as to how we got here.
June 27, 2017
Cumbersome writing, superficial use of theory, and far too many broad generalizations about what zombies signify.
October 18, 2020
Well-written, insightful, and engaging. The authors analyze the construction and the massive cultural reception of the zombies as the collective expression of our meaning crisis. Zombies express certain features and discontents of our current conditions: we don't have a home, we are not connected to each other the way we used to, and we do not feel as if we are agents in stable (cultural, political, religious) arenas, in which our actions have predictable consequences. The authors trace the origin of meaning (worldview) in Western culture, outlining the nomological, narrative, and normative orders, as well as the factors that caused the decline of meaning. The promissory note, with which they end the book, is the notion of philosopher-as-physician, who is at the same time (a) at the root of the Western Aristotelian-Christian worldview, (b) seems valid cross-culturally, and (c) offers the hope of recovery from the present meaning crisis. This is going to be picked up by Vervaeke et al. in a following book, which I look forward to reading.
July 5, 2021
Great book to analyze the current situation our western understanding of the world is suffering
It is a must read and must analyze book. Greatly recommended to anyone who has noticed the horrible decline in values, culture, and world view. I just don't agree with the conclusion that we shouldn't see Christianity as the solution, and that we should look elsewhere for better "ways", which is the problem in the first place.
Excuse my English if it's not perfect. I'm Bolivian
It is a must read and must analyze book. Greatly recommended to anyone who has noticed the horrible decline in values, culture, and world view. I just don't agree with the conclusion that we shouldn't see Christianity as the solution, and that we should look elsewhere for better "ways", which is the problem in the first place.
Excuse my English if it's not perfect. I'm Bolivian
July 8, 2017
If you want to write a book about the zombie in popular culture, watch more than 2 popular zombie movies.
If you want to write about the futility of Western society without Christianity, watch more than 2 popular zombie movies.
If you want to write about the rise in suicide rates, read more than one statistic on suicide.
If you want to write about the futility of Western society without Christianity, watch more than 2 popular zombie movies.
If you want to write about the rise in suicide rates, read more than one statistic on suicide.
June 26, 2022
I am very biased when it comes to John Varvaeke because he fosters certain immersion in his content which allows me to see things that matter in such a tangible non-abstract way. Must be a privilege to have him as a lecturer.
I think this book was a predecessor to his big project of the meaning crisis. And of course, he wanted to make it salient ;) Now watching his lectures, I see the book is a bit flat and has plenty of flaws but again I see this as an exercise for Vervaeke.
The methodology is largely missing, although it is a book, it has the structure and effect of a research paper, therefore he needs to take his methodology into account for it to be sound. The graphs he uses seems rather biased as he doesn't really explain whether he took into account the growth of media in our society as well as the cotemporally entertaining culture with its snowball effect regarding successful concepts.
I am drawn to content that positions things in context and this book provides a wide understanding and analysis of the zombie zeitgeist as he calls it. It's very mind-blowing, sort to say to see how things can be so interconnected. Quite obvious is that the narrative is very influenced by From and Nietsche which is not wrong per se, but I would like to see how his concepts hold under criticism from other schools of thought.
I think this book was a predecessor to his big project of the meaning crisis. And of course, he wanted to make it salient ;) Now watching his lectures, I see the book is a bit flat and has plenty of flaws but again I see this as an exercise for Vervaeke.
The methodology is largely missing, although it is a book, it has the structure and effect of a research paper, therefore he needs to take his methodology into account for it to be sound. The graphs he uses seems rather biased as he doesn't really explain whether he took into account the growth of media in our society as well as the cotemporally entertaining culture with its snowball effect regarding successful concepts.
I am drawn to content that positions things in context and this book provides a wide understanding and analysis of the zombie zeitgeist as he calls it. It's very mind-blowing, sort to say to see how things can be so interconnected. Quite obvious is that the narrative is very influenced by From and Nietsche which is not wrong per se, but I would like to see how his concepts hold under criticism from other schools of thought.
September 5, 2022
Irrelevant government bureaucrats who long for a pop star status. Or at least a paying gig on TV. So zombies are cool because of hidden magical significations, not simply because a couple of TV shows made it big with this theme. By the measure of these clowns, the 90s with its Chicago Hope, E.R., or Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman were a semiotic post-whatever measuring some hidden issues with the medical system, problems long gone, as the medical drama is as dead with the ending of House M.D.
December 1, 2021
As I read only first half of the book which has an abstract description of our world through the movies.
To understand this book is to ask ourselves how zombies are formed in our vicious society and if there are more zombies than humans in a state.
I am for progress of new technologies and other advanced fields which with every vicious economic cycle there's no turning back for some zombies or those that lost hope and meaning for tomorrow's day.
But maybe to achieve clarity and freedom we need to pass all 3 steps - ' human - zombie - non-human' and final one Human.
With the help of institutions we need to take in account that everyone is unique in it's way, which means for some can be path of awakening for others path of self-destruction.
To understand this book is to ask ourselves how zombies are formed in our vicious society and if there are more zombies than humans in a state.
I am for progress of new technologies and other advanced fields which with every vicious economic cycle there's no turning back for some zombies or those that lost hope and meaning for tomorrow's day.
But maybe to achieve clarity and freedom we need to pass all 3 steps - ' human - zombie - non-human' and final one Human.
With the help of institutions we need to take in account that everyone is unique in it's way, which means for some can be path of awakening for others path of self-destruction.
June 10, 2018
A good read and insightful
A very good account of how contemporary pop culture is symbolic of a trend that has historically occurred longer than our current zeitgeist recalls. Though not a solution it does, as a book, reflect something that transcends one work alone. Something that is reflected in the current crisis of meaning in the West. A very good read and I recommend it. However like any good read it is only part of the story and it can only do its best in painting a picture of now. But not how to move forward. But that may be to big a task of one person alone.
A very good account of how contemporary pop culture is symbolic of a trend that has historically occurred longer than our current zeitgeist recalls. Though not a solution it does, as a book, reflect something that transcends one work alone. Something that is reflected in the current crisis of meaning in the West. A very good read and I recommend it. However like any good read it is only part of the story and it can only do its best in painting a picture of now. But not how to move forward. But that may be to big a task of one person alone.
June 5, 2024
A great book by a good team of intellects. It is also a great prelude to Vervaeke’s outstanding series, Awakening from the Meaning Crisis. Originally I had given it 5 stars, and in many ways it is insightful enough to earn such a rating. The reason I have decided on 4 stars is because it is not quite comprehensive enough in its research, particularly historically, for a 5 star rating. Nonetheless, I highly recommend it.
March 19, 2019
Never read an idea expressed like this
I'm not an academic, and in many ways this was an academic read. It was a pleasure to see an idea fully fleshed out like this. I will be reading it again.
I'm not an academic, and in many ways this was an academic read. It was a pleasure to see an idea fully fleshed out like this. I will be reading it again.
August 30, 2021
Three researchers from the fields of cognitive science, semiotics, and computational cognitive neuroscience, writes about a perceived meaning crisis that is plaguing the modern world.
Initially, it's a very cool book with an appealing subject. Unfortunately, this cool is somewhat lost over the pages, which is a shame. I'm likely not the only reader who would have enjoyed further voyages into the model from the title: the zombie as an analogue to human beings struggling with lack of meaning. That is such an interesting idea, which deserves further investigation. I wish that the book delved further into that. Instead, it went too deep down into theoretical philosophy for my taste. I will add that I sometimes felt that this book is left unfinished. Almost as if the authors had an idea for an extensive textbook, outlined the chapters and sections, but ended up writing only a third of what was planned (which would also explain the choice to publish as e-book only).
I did, however, enjoy the sections about the connection between zombies and christianity. As well as the very short passages on how the protestant hero Luther actually has contributed to the meaning crisis. There are many great quotes to be found among the lines - you just have to dig into it and look. Of course, the book being this short, it won't take too long to do that. That might actually be what saves the book from being too boring - it's short enough to justify a read.
Initially, it's a very cool book with an appealing subject. Unfortunately, this cool is somewhat lost over the pages, which is a shame. I'm likely not the only reader who would have enjoyed further voyages into the model from the title: the zombie as an analogue to human beings struggling with lack of meaning. That is such an interesting idea, which deserves further investigation. I wish that the book delved further into that. Instead, it went too deep down into theoretical philosophy for my taste. I will add that I sometimes felt that this book is left unfinished. Almost as if the authors had an idea for an extensive textbook, outlined the chapters and sections, but ended up writing only a third of what was planned (which would also explain the choice to publish as e-book only).
I did, however, enjoy the sections about the connection between zombies and christianity. As well as the very short passages on how the protestant hero Luther actually has contributed to the meaning crisis. There are many great quotes to be found among the lines - you just have to dig into it and look. Of course, the book being this short, it won't take too long to do that. That might actually be what saves the book from being too boring - it's short enough to justify a read.
February 3, 2022
For whatever reason, I've always overlooked the zombie as a Halloween monster, and once again (due to pure negligence on my part--it's in the title, after all) I overlooked it as a literal topic of this book. But there were still many interesting theories about zombies as monsters that fulfilled the metaphorical analysis of culture I was hoping for:
- the rise of zombies in the zeitgeist corresponds with a meaning crisis in the West
- zombies metaphorically represent the self-devouring potential of civilization ("brain eats brain")
- zombies symbolically invert the Christian monomyth
- the collective "Judeo-Christian model of meaning" has been eroded by the 21st century's more individualistic and "post-scientific world"
Factual discussion about declining religiosity and marriage rates, increased suicide rates, and general detachment from institutions of meaning supports these more abstract observations. There's also a historical-philosophical analysis of how we got here, much of which went over my head. Taken together in whatever order, the argument is clear: We are the walking dead, and it will be hard (though not impossible) to find a cure.
- the rise of zombies in the zeitgeist corresponds with a meaning crisis in the West
- zombies metaphorically represent the self-devouring potential of civilization ("brain eats brain")
- zombies symbolically invert the Christian monomyth
- the collective "Judeo-Christian model of meaning" has been eroded by the 21st century's more individualistic and "post-scientific world"
Factual discussion about declining religiosity and marriage rates, increased suicide rates, and general detachment from institutions of meaning supports these more abstract observations. There's also a historical-philosophical analysis of how we got here, much of which went over my head. Taken together in whatever order, the argument is clear: We are the walking dead, and it will be hard (though not impossible) to find a cure.
November 13, 2022
moderately interesting but …
A mere 90 pages, and even less after all the notes and references. Seems to be a collection of very short papers pasted together more than a little opportunistically. Thoroughly academic in the pejorative sense of the word. Lush jargon, spinning around vacuously, in love with the sound of its own voice. ‘Zombie’ is used mostly as an excuse to talk about other issues. The last couple of sections barely mention them at all. The connecting theme at least that the zombie stories/movies exemplify a modern crisis of faith/meaning/hope is hardly novel or particularly insightful.
A mere 90 pages, and even less after all the notes and references. Seems to be a collection of very short papers pasted together more than a little opportunistically. Thoroughly academic in the pejorative sense of the word. Lush jargon, spinning around vacuously, in love with the sound of its own voice. ‘Zombie’ is used mostly as an excuse to talk about other issues. The last couple of sections barely mention them at all. The connecting theme at least that the zombie stories/movies exemplify a modern crisis of faith/meaning/hope is hardly novel or particularly insightful.
July 7, 2025
“Zombies do represent us, but more specifically, they represent the ruin of all that is meaningful within us. Zombies represent the modern deterioration of our uniquely human ability to make and sustain meaning in our lives.”
John Vervaeke uses the symbol of Zombies to demonstrat the “unexamined”, spirtually empty lives we lead. He sets up how this happened and where we are but the answer he says in a forthcoming work.
He has a series on youtube that is Awakening from the Meaning Crisis that is very good. Maybe that is his answer.
His work is a bit academic in writing style for me but the message is interesting.
John Vervaeke uses the symbol of Zombies to demonstrat the “unexamined”, spirtually empty lives we lead. He sets up how this happened and where we are but the answer he says in a forthcoming work.
He has a series on youtube that is Awakening from the Meaning Crisis that is very good. Maybe that is his answer.
His work is a bit academic in writing style for me but the message is interesting.
December 18, 2023
The zombie as shadow
This book portrays the zombie as an unconscious response from a zeitgeist that is disintegrating. The connected soul of the Greek and Christian world is collapsing as the connection as logos is no longer credible. Our response is a despair manifesting itself in the image of the zombie devoid of meaning purpose feeling and consciousness. The zombie is our shadow or more accurately our reflection.
We must reconnect at a bodily level to find meaning not in the transcendent but in the immanent activities of our daily lives
This book portrays the zombie as an unconscious response from a zeitgeist that is disintegrating. The connected soul of the Greek and Christian world is collapsing as the connection as logos is no longer credible. Our response is a despair manifesting itself in the image of the zombie devoid of meaning purpose feeling and consciousness. The zombie is our shadow or more accurately our reflection.
We must reconnect at a bodily level to find meaning not in the transcendent but in the immanent activities of our daily lives
September 5, 2022
John’s work is life changing. His passion for the meaning crisis has impacted my own life and those around me. And it all started with a video and book about zombies. Thank you, JV. It’s been beautiful to share in your journey.
March 23, 2021
Masterful revision of the current age.
July 7, 2022
Incredible book. I think it diagnoses a relevant problem in Western Culture (I don't know if Eastern Culture too). I think it is a must read.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews