Zombie 34509 222812125 2008-07-01T06:25:20Z Equinox137 216304 nice theory. this is the first place I've heard of this. {{pp-semi-vandalism|small=yes}} {{dablink|This article is about the living dead. For other meanings, see [[Zombie (disambiguation)]].}} A '''zombie''' is a reanimated human corpse. Stories of zombies originated in the [[Afro-Caribbean]] spiritual belief system of [[Vodou]], which told of the dead being raised as workers by a powerful sorcerer. Zombies became a [[Zombies in popular culture|popular device]] in modern [[horror fiction]], largely because of the success of [[George A. Romero]]'s 1968 film ''[[Night of the Living Dead]]''. There are several possible [[etymology|etymologies]] of the word zombie. One possible origin is ''jumbie'', the [[Caribbean|West Indian]] term for "ghost".<ref name="how">[http://science.howstuffworks.com/zombie.htm Howstuffworks "How Zombies Work"<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Another is ''nzambi'', the [[Kingdom of Kongo|Kongo]] word meaning "spirit of a dead person."<ref name="how"> </ref> According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the etymology is from the [[Louisiana Creole French|Louisiana Creole]] or [[Haitian Creole language|Haitian Creole]] ''zonbi'', of [[Bantu]] origin.<ref name="mw">[http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/zombie zombie - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> A ''zonbi'' is a person who is believed to have died and been brought back to life without [[speech]] or [[free will]].<ref>[http://www.wordcentral.com/cgi-bin/student?zombie Definition of zombie - Merriam-Webster's Student Dictionary<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> It is akin to the [[Kimbundu]] ''nzúmbe'' ghost. These words are approximately from 1871.<ref name="mw"> </ref> ==Voodoo== {{see also|History of Haiti}} [[Image:Zombie haiti ill artlibre jnl.png|thumb|200px|A Haitian zombie in a field of [[sugar cane]].]] According to the tenets of [[Voodoo]], a dead person can be revived by a [[bokor]] or Voodoo sorcerer. Zombies remain under the control of the bokor since they have no will of their own. "Zombi" is also another name of the Voodoo snake god [[Damballa|Damballah Wedo]], of [[Niger-Congo]] origin; it is akin to the [[Kongo language|Kongo]] word ''nzambi'', which means "god". There also exists within the voudon tradition the zombi astral which is a human soul that is captured by a bokor and used to enhance the bokor's power. In 1937, while researching [[folklore]] in [[Haiti]], [[Zora Neale Hurston]] encountered the case of Felicia Felix-Mentor, who had died and been buried in 1907 at the age of 29. Hurston pursued rumors that the affected persons were given powerful [[Psychoactive drug|drugs]], but she was unable to locate individuals willing to offer much information. She wrote: {{cquote|''What is more, if science ever gets to the bottom of Voodoo in Haiti and Africa, it will be found that some important [[medicine|medical]] secrets, still unknown to medical science, give it its power, rather than gestures of ceremony.''<ref>Gallaher, Tim (1997). [http://www-hsc.usc.edu/~gallaher/hurston/hurston.html Zora Neale Hurston, American Author]</ref>}} Several decades later, [[Wade Davis]], a [[Harvard]] [[ethnobotanist]], presented a pharmacological case for zombies in two books, ''[[The Serpent and the Rainbow]]'' ([[1985]]) and ''Passage of Darkness: The Ethnobiology of the Haitian Zombie ''([[1988]]). Davis traveled to Haiti in 1982 and, as a result of his investigations, claimed that a living person can be turned into a zombie by two special powders being entered into the blood stream (usually via a wound). The first, ''coup de poudre'' (French: 'powder strike'), induced a 'death-like' state because of [[tetrodotoxin]] (TTX), its key ingredient. Tetrodotoxin is the same lethal toxin found in the Japanese delicacy [[fugu]], or [[pufferfish]]. At near-lethal doses ([[LD50|LD<sub>50</sub>]]= 5-8µg/kg)<ref>See [[tetrodotoxin]]</ref>, it can leave a person in a state of near-death for several days. The second powder, composed of [[Dissociative drug|dissociative]]s like [[datura]], put the person in a zombie-like state where they seem to have no will of their own. Davis also popularized the story of [[Clairvius Narcisse]], who was claimed to have succumbed to this practice. There is wide belief among the Haitian people of the existence of the "zombie drug". The Voodoon religion being somewhat secretive in its practices and codes, it can be very difficult for a foreign scientist to validate or invalidate such claims. The scientific community dismisses tetrodotoxin as the cause of this state. Terence Hines, writing in the May/June 2008 ''[[Skeptical Inquirer]]'', points out that TTX poisoning can be classified by four levels, or grades, with grade one characterized by numbness and nausea, grade two marked by greater numbness and motor difficulty, grade three signified by severe flaccid paralysis, respiratory failure, and [[aphonia]], and grade four characterized by serious respiratory problems, hypotension, cardiac difficulties, brain [[hypoxia (medical)|hypoxia]], unconsciousness and death. Hines points out that these symptoms are not consistent with the descriptions of voodoo zombies by Davis, which include the ability to walk and lurch forward with stiff limbs, rather than flaccid ones that render one completely immobile, and it is for this reason that Davis' claims were dismissed by the scientific community in the 1980's. Hines believes that Davis was too credulous in his acceptance of information provided to him by Haitians, whom Hines believes took advantage of Davis, much as [[Margaret Mead]]'s Samoan subjects had with her in the 1920's.<ref>Hines, Terence; "Zombies and Tetrodotoxin"; ''[[Skeptical Inquirer]]''; May/June 2008; Volume 32, Issue 3; Pages 60-62.</ref> Others have discussed the contribution of the victim's own belief system, possibly leading to compliance with the attacker's will, causing [[psychogenic]] ("quasi-hysterical") [[amnesia]], [[catatonia]], or other [[mental illness|psychological disorders]], which are later misinterpreted as a return from the dead. Scottish psychiatrist [[R. D. Laing]] further highlighted the link between social and cultural expectations and compulsion, in the context of [[schizophrenia]] and other mental illness, suggesting that schizogenesis may account for some of the psychological aspects of zombification. ==Folklore== In the [[Middle Ages]], it was commonly believed that the souls of the dead could return to earth and haunt the living. The belief in [[Medieval revenants|revenants]] (someone who has returned from the dead) is well documented by contemporary European writers of the time, such as [[William of Newburgh]] and [[Walter Map]]. According to the ''Encyclopedia of Things that Never Were''<ref>[[Michael Page]] and [[Robert Ingpen]] : ''Encyclopedia of Things That Never Were: Creatures, Places, and People'', 1987. ISBN 0-14-010008-3 </ref>, particularly in France during the Middle Ages, the revenant rises from the dead usually to avenge some crime committed against the entity, most likely a murder. The revenant usually took on the form of an emaciated corpse or skeletal human figure, and wandered around graveyards at night. The "[[draugr]]" of medieval [[Norse mythology]] were also believed to be the corpses of warriors returned from the dead to attack the living. The zombie appears in several other cultures worldwide, including [[China]], [[Japan]], the [[Oceania|Pacific]], [[India]], and the [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]]. The [[Epic of Gilgamesh]] of ancient [[Sumer]] includes a mention of zombies. [[Ishtar]], in the fury of vengeance says: {{quote|Father give me the Bull of Heaven,<BR> So he can kill [[Gilgamesh]] in his dwelling.<BR> If you do not give me the [[Bull of Heaven]],<BR> I will knock down the Gates of the Netherworld,<BR> I will smash the doorposts, and leave the doors flat down,<BR> and will let the dead go up to eat the living!<BR> And the dead will outnumber the living!<ref>{{cite book | author=Kovacs, Maureen Gallery, transl. with intro. | title=The Epic of Gilgamesh | location=Stanford University Press | publisher=Stanford, California | year=1985,1989 | id=ISBN 0-8047-1711-7}} Glossary, Appendices, Appendix (Chapter XII=Tablet XII). A line-by-line translation (Chapters I-XI).}}</ref>}} ==Popular culture== {{main|Zombies in popular culture}} [[Image:Groupofzombiesjoelf.jpg|thumb|A group of actors portraying zombies.]]Modern zombies, as portrayed in books, films, games, and [[haunted attraction]]s, are quite different from both voodoo zombies and those of folklore. Modern zombies are typically depicted in popular culture as mindless, unfeeling monsters with a hunger for human flesh, a prototype established in the seminal 1968 film ''[[Night of the Living Dead]]''. Typically, these creatures can sustain damage far beyond that of a normal, living human and can pass whatever syndrome that causes their condition onto others. Usually, zombies are not thralls to masters, as in ''[[White Zombie (film)|White Zombie]]'' or the spirit-cult myths. Rather, modern zombies come in mobs and waves, seeking either flesh to eat or people to kill or infect. Typically, they show signs of physical decomposition such as rotting flesh, discolored eyes, and open wounds, and move with a slow, shambling gait. They are generally incapable of communication and show no signs of personality or rationality. Modern zombies are closely tied to the idea of a [[zombie apocalypse]], the collapse of civilization caused by a vast plague of undead. The ideas are now so strongly linked that zombies are rarely depicted within any other context. There are still significant differences among the depictions of zombies by various media; for one comparison see the [[Living Dead#Romero.27s vs Russo.27s Zombies|contrasts between zombies]] by ''Night of the Living Dead'' authors [[George A. Romero]] and [[John A. Russo]] as they evolved in the two separate film series that followed. ==Philosophy== {{main|Philosophical zombie}} In [[philosophy of mind]], zombies are hypothetical persons who lack full [[consciousness]] but have the biology or behavior of a normal human being; they are often used in thought experiments which make arguments against the identity of the mind and the brain. The term was coined by philosopher of mind [[David Chalmers]]. They are referred to as [[philosophical zombie]]s or "p-zombies". <ref name=chalmers1>Chalmers, David. 1995. "Facing Up to the Problem of Consciousness", Journal of Consciousness Studies, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 200-219</ref> ==Social activism== {{main|Zombie walk}} [[Image:Zombie mob participant.jpg|thumb|right|A participant in a [[Zombie walk]] event in [[Calgary]], [[Canada]].]] Some zombie fans continue the George A. Romero tradition of using zombies as a social commentary. Organized [[zombie walk]]s, which are primarily promoted through word of mouth, are regularly staged in some countries. Usually they are arranged as a sort of surrealist performance art but they are occasionally put on as part of a unique political protest.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://quebec.indymedia.org/es/node/25785?PHPSESSID=1292ed637fd8231f343327d70f4ec3bd |title=Shopping Spree of the Dead! |accessdate=2007-02-26 |date= |year= |month= |publisher= }}</ref> The world's largest zombie walk was held on October 29, 2006 in [[Monroeville Mall]] in [[Pittsburgh]], Pennsylvania, the setting of Romero's original ''[[Dawn of the Dead]]'' film. The walk consisted of 894 attendees who all were instructed to bring canned food for a local food drive. <ref name=donaldson1>Donaldson, Bob, and Roberts, Larry. [http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06303/734088-56.stm A walk with zombies], Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. October 30, 2006.</ref> Other organizations such as [[Zombie Squad]] use the genre as a way to promote disaster preparedness and to encourage horror fans to become involved in their community, through volunteering or hosting zombie themed charity fundraisers. ==References== {{sisterlinks|zombie}} {{reflist}} [[Category:Corporeal undead]] [[Category:Film genres]] [[Category:Horror]] [[Category:Pop culture words of Bantu origin]] [[Category:Mind control]] [[Category:Vodou]] [[Category:Zombies| ]] [[bg:Зомби]] [[ca:Zombi]] [[cs:Zombie]] [[da:Zombie]] [[de:Zombie]] [[et:Zombie]] [[es:Zombi]] [[eo:Zombio]] [[fa:زامبی]] [[fr:Zombi]] [[ga:Zombaí]] [[ko:좀비]] [[id:Zombie]] [[is:Uppvakningur]] [[it:Zombi]] [[he:זומבי]] [[la:Cadaver animatum]] [[lt:Zombis]] [[hu:Zombi]] [[nl:Zombie]] [[ja:ゾンビ]] [[no:Zombie]] [[uz:Zombi]] [[pl:Zombie]] [[pt:Zumbi]] [[ru:Зомби]] [[simple:Zombie]] [[sr:Зомби]] [[fi:Zombi]] [[sv:Zombie]] [[th:ซอมบี้]] [[tr:Zombi]] [[zh:喪屍]]