The More Repulsive the Better: Affect Theory and Our Disgust-love for Zombies
Type of Presentation
Panel submission
Brief Description of Presentation
This presentation would seek to explore disgust as a subconscious reaction to the human sinew chewing, blood-splattering violence in zombie media which not only draws us back for more, but also acts as a bonding agent to others who interact with this media. I will show several clips from zombie media (Warm Bodies, The Walking Dead, Night of the Living Dead) and discuss with group their reactions to the media. We will then explore affect theory and how zombie media fits within this construct.
Abstract of Proposal
The interest in academic research about zombie culture and the media that produces it has gradually reached a crescendo: We have discussed the political implications of an economy that created just the right atmosphere for a post apocalyptic frenzy, we have discussed the history of voodoo magic and its Haitian origins, we have even mapped the cinematic history and ensuing parodies of zombie media that now parade across our digital screens.[1] However, an area less explored in zombie media remains in the realm of affect: the “visceral forces beneath, alongside, or generally other than conscious knowing, vital forces insisting beyond emotion—that can serve to drive us toward movement” (Seigworth & Gregg 2010)[2]. Zombie media is unusually violent, especially when we consider that zombies are usually munching on human flesh in graphic, juicy images. Giroux (2011) reminds us that we should not be surprised by this, since Americans have “grown accustomed to luxuriating in a warm bath of cinematic blood” (p. 60)[3]. We feel disgust—gut-wrenching, fascination with this media and yet subconsciously are drawn to it again. Affect theory helps us to understand how we turn—and return to it again and again. Sara Ahmed (2010) [4]says that “to be affected by something is to evaluate that thing. Evaluations are expressed in how bodies turn toward things” (p. 31). This paper explores the argument that disgust is an affect that not only attracts us, but acts as a bonding agent for others who also are affected by it—they want to share this feeling with like-minded people.
[1] Much of the literature for this part of the paper comes from Kyle William Bishop’s How zombies conquered popular culture: The multifarious walking dead in the 21st century (2001) and the new (2016) collection found in Generation Z: Zombies, popular culture and educating youth, edited by Victoria Carrington, Jennifer Rowsell, Esther Priadharshini, and Rebecca Westrup.
[2] Gregg, M. & Sigworth, G. J. (2010). The affect theory reader. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
[3] Giroux, H. A. (2011). Zombie politics and culture in the age of casino capitalism, New York: Peter Lang.
[4] Ahmed, Sara. (2010). Happy objects. In Gregg, M. & Sigworth, G. J. (Eds.) The affect theory reader (pp. 32-51). Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Location
Coastal Georgia Center
Start Date
3-26-2016 12:50 PM
End Date
3-26-2016 2:20 PM
Recommended Citation
Kimble, Julie, "The More Repulsive the Better: Affect Theory and Our Disgust-love for Zombies" (2016). International Critical Media Literacy Conference. 22.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/criticalmedialiteracy/2016/2016/22
The More Repulsive the Better: Affect Theory and Our Disgust-love for Zombies
Coastal Georgia Center
The interest in academic research about zombie culture and the media that produces it has gradually reached a crescendo: We have discussed the political implications of an economy that created just the right atmosphere for a post apocalyptic frenzy, we have discussed the history of voodoo magic and its Haitian origins, we have even mapped the cinematic history and ensuing parodies of zombie media that now parade across our digital screens.[1] However, an area less explored in zombie media remains in the realm of affect: the “visceral forces beneath, alongside, or generally other than conscious knowing, vital forces insisting beyond emotion—that can serve to drive us toward movement” (Seigworth & Gregg 2010)[2]. Zombie media is unusually violent, especially when we consider that zombies are usually munching on human flesh in graphic, juicy images. Giroux (2011) reminds us that we should not be surprised by this, since Americans have “grown accustomed to luxuriating in a warm bath of cinematic blood” (p. 60)[3]. We feel disgust—gut-wrenching, fascination with this media and yet subconsciously are drawn to it again. Affect theory helps us to understand how we turn—and return to it again and again. Sara Ahmed (2010) [4]says that “to be affected by something is to evaluate that thing. Evaluations are expressed in how bodies turn toward things” (p. 31). This paper explores the argument that disgust is an affect that not only attracts us, but acts as a bonding agent for others who also are affected by it—they want to share this feeling with like-minded people.
[1] Much of the literature for this part of the paper comes from Kyle William Bishop’s How zombies conquered popular culture: The multifarious walking dead in the 21st century (2001) and the new (2016) collection found in Generation Z: Zombies, popular culture and educating youth, edited by Victoria Carrington, Jennifer Rowsell, Esther Priadharshini, and Rebecca Westrup.
[2] Gregg, M. & Sigworth, G. J. (2010). The affect theory reader. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
[3] Giroux, H. A. (2011). Zombie politics and culture in the age of casino capitalism, New York: Peter Lang.
[4] Ahmed, Sara. (2010). Happy objects. In Gregg, M. & Sigworth, G. J. (Eds.) The affect theory reader (pp. 32-51). Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
