The Dark History of Zombies
The Dark History of Zombies
Animated corpses appear in stories all over the world throughout recorded history.
But zombies have a distinct lineage—one that traces back to Equatorial and Central Africa.
The first clue is in the word “zombie” itself.
Its exact etymological origins are unknown, but there are several candidates.
The Mitsogho people of Gabon , for example, use the word “ndzumbi” for corpse.
The Kikongo word “nzambi” refers variously to the supreme being, an ancestor with superhuman abilities, or another deity .
And, in certain languages spoken in Angola and the Congo, “zumbi” refers to an object inhabited by a spirit, or someone returned from the dead.
There are also similarities in certain cultural beliefs.
For example, in Kongo tradition, it’s thought that once someone dies, their spirit can be housed in a physical object which might bring protection and good luck.
Similar beliefs about what might happen to someone’s soul after death are held in various parts of Africa.
Between 1517 and 1804, France and Spain enslaved hundreds of thousands of African people, taking them to the Caribbean island that now contains Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
There, the religious beliefs of enslaved African people mixed with the Catholic traditions of colonial authorities, and a religion known as “vodou” developed.
According to some vodou beliefs, a person’s soul can be captured and stored, becoming a body-less “zombi.”
Alternatively, if a body isn’t properly attended to soon after death, a sorcerer called a “ bokor ” can capture a corpse and turn it into a soulless zombi that will perform their bidding .
Historically, these zombis were said to be put to work as laborers who needed neither food nor rest and would enrich their captor’s fortune.
In other words, zombification seemed to represent the horrors of enslavement that many Haitian people experienced.
It was the worst possible fate: a form of enslavement that not even death could free you from.
The zombi was deprived of an afterlife and trapped in eternal subjugation .
Because of this, in Haitian culture, zombis are commonly seen as victims deserving of sympathy and care.
The zombie underwent a transformation after the US occupation of Haiti began in 1915—this time, through the lens of Western pop culture.
During the occupation, US citizens propagated many racist beliefs about Black Haitian people.
Among false accounts of devil worship and human sacrifice, zombie stories captured the American imagination.
And in 1932, zombies debuted on the big screen in a film called “White Zombie.”
Set in Haiti, the film’s protagonist must rescue his fiancée from an evil vodou master who runs a sugar mill using zombi labor.
Notably , the film’s main object of sympathy isn’t the enslaved workforce, but the victimized white woman.
Over the following decades, zombies appeared in many American films, usually with loose references to Haitian culture, though some veered off to involve aliens and Nazis.
Then came the wildly influential 1968 film “ Night of the Living Dead ,” in which a group of strangers tries to survive an onslaught of slow-moving, flesh-eating monsters.
The film’s director remarked that he never envisioned his living dead as zombies.
Instead, it was the audience who recognized them as such.
But from then on, zombies became linked to an insatiable craving for flesh—with a particular taste for brains added in 1985’s “The Return of the Living Dead.”
In these and many subsequent films, no sorcerer controls the zombies; they’re the monsters.
And in many iterations , later fueled by 2002’s “28 Days Later,” zombification became a contagious phenomenon.
For decades now, artists around the world have used zombies to shine a light on the social ills and anxieties of their moment—from consumer culture to the global lack of disaster preparedness .
But, in effect, American pop culture also initially erased the zombie’s origins— cannibalizing its original significance and transforming the victim into the monster.
在有记录的历史中，世界各地的故事里都出现过会动的尸体。
但僵尸有着独特的渊源——可以追溯到赤道地区和中非。
第一条线索就藏在“僵尸”这个词本身。
其确切的词源尚不清楚，但有几种可能的来源。
例如，加蓬的米佐戈人用“ndzumbi”来表示尸体。
基孔戈语中的“nzambi”有多种含义，既指至高无上的神，也指具有超人能力的祖先，或是其他神灵。
在安哥拉和刚果使用的某些语言中，“zumbi”指被灵魂附身的物体，或是从死人复生的人。
某些文化信仰中也存在相似之处。
例如，在刚果的传统观念里，人们认为人死后，其灵魂可以寄居在某个实物中，这可能会带来保护和好运。
非洲各地对于人死后灵魂归宿有着类似的信仰。
1517年至1804年间，法国和西班牙奴役了数十万非洲人，并将他们带到了如今包含海地和多米尼加共和国的加勒比岛屿。
在那里，被奴役的非洲人的宗教信仰与殖民当局的天主教传统相融合，一种名为“伏都教”的宗教由此发展起来。
根据一些伏都教的信仰，人的灵魂可以被捕获并储存起来，成为一个没有身体的“僵尸”。
或者，如果尸体在死后不久没有得到妥善照料，一个被称为“博科尔”的巫师可以捕获尸体，并将其变成一个没有灵魂的僵尸，听从他们的吩咐。
从历史上看，这些僵尸据说会被当作劳工使用，他们既不需要食物也不需要休息，会为捕获者带来财富。
换句话说，僵尸化似乎代表了许多海地人所经历的奴役之恐怖。
这是最悲惨的命运：一种即使死亡也无法解脱的奴役形式。
僵尸被剥夺了来世，被困在永恒的奴役之中。
正因如此，在海地文化中，僵尸通常被视为值得同情和关爱的受害者。
1915年美国开始占领海地后，僵尸经历了一次转变——这一次，是通过西方流行文化的视角。
占领期间，美国公民传播了许多关于海地黑人的种族主义观念。
在关于崇拜恶魔和人祭的虚假描述中，僵尸故事激发了美国人的想象力。
1932年，僵尸在一部名为《白色僵尸》的电影中首次登上大银幕。
这部电影以海地为背景，主人公必须从一个邪恶的伏都教大师手中救出他的未婚妻，这个大师利用僵尸劳工经营一家糖厂。
值得注意的是，这部电影中主要的同情对象不是被奴役的劳动力，而是受害的白人女性。
在接下来的几十年里，僵尸出现在许多美国电影中，通常只是松散地提及海地文化，不过有些电影偏离主题，涉及到外星人和纳粹。
随后出现了极具影响力的1968年电影《活死人之夜》，一群陌生人试图在一群行动迟缓、食肉的怪物的袭击中求生。
这部电影的导演表示，他从未将自己塑造的活死人视为僵尸。
相反，是观众将它们认作僵尸。
但从那时起，僵尸就与对肉的贪得无厌的渴望联系在一起——1985年的《活死人归来》还特别加上了对大脑的嗜好。
在这些以及许多后续电影中，没有巫师控制僵尸；它们就是怪物。
在许多版本中，后来在2002年的《惊变28天》的推动下，僵尸化变成了一种传染性现象。
几十年来，世界各地的艺术家都用僵尸来揭示他们所处时代的社会弊病和焦虑——从消费文化到全球缺乏灾难准备。
但实际上，美国流行文化最初也抹去了僵尸的起源——蚕食了它原本的意义，将受害者变成了怪物。
Vocabulary, Phrases and Sentences
| Word | Chinese Definition | Phonetic Symbol |
|---|---|---|
| corpse | 尸体 | /kɔːps/ |
| equatorial | 赤道的 | /ˌekwəˈtɔːriəl/ |
| etymological | 词源的 | /ˌetɪməˈlɒdʒɪkl/ |
| mitsogho | （可能是特定语境下的词，无常见准确释义） | |
| gabon | 加蓬（非洲国家） | |
| kikongo | 金刚果语 | |
| superhuman | 超人的；超乎常人的 | /ˌsuːpəˈhjuːmən/ |
| deity | 神；女神 | /ˈdeɪəti/ |
| angola | 安哥拉（非洲国家） | |
| inhabit | 居住于；栖息于 | /ɪnˈhæbɪt/ |
| dominican | 多米尼加的；多米尼加人 | /dəˈmɪnɪkən/ |
| body-less | 无身体的 | |
| sorcerer | 巫师；魔法师 | /ˈsɔːsərə®/ |
| bokor | （伏都教中的）巫师 | |
| bidding | 命令；请求；出价 | /ˈbɪdɪŋ/ |
| deprive | 剥夺；使丧失 | /dɪˈpraɪv/ |
| afterlife | 来世；死后的生活 | |
| subjugation | 征服；镇压；克制 | /ˌsʌbdʒuˈɡeɪʃn/ |
| debut | 首次亮相；初次登台，音标为 | /ˈdeɪbjuː/ |
| protagonist | 主角；主人公 | /ˌprəʊtəˈɡənɪst/ |
| mill | 磨坊；工厂；磨粉机 | /mɪl/ |
| notably | 显著地；尤其 | /ˈnəʊtəbli/ |
| veer | 转向；改变方向；偏离 | /vɪə®/ |
| night of the living dead | 活死人之夜 | |
| onslaught | 攻击；猛攻 | /ˈɒnslɔːt/ |
| envision | 想象；预想 | /ɪnˈvɪʒn/ |
| insatiable | 贪得无厌的；不知足的 | /ɪnˈseɪʃəbl/ |
| iteration | 迭代；重复 | /ˌɪtəˈreɪʃn/ |
| fuel | 燃料；给……提供燃料 | /ˈfjuːəl/ |
| contagious | 传染性的；有感染力的 | /kənˈteɪdʒəs/ |
| preparedness | 准备状态；预备 | |
| cannibalize | 拆用……的零件；同类相食 | /ˈkænɪbəlaɪz/ |