Who has never seen a film or series in which the living dead attack the inhabitants of the city in an attempt to devour them? This narrative is so successful in pop culture that it is present in countless types of media beyond cinema, such as horror games, books, and comics. But what is the origin of the myth? And who was the first person to describe these cannibals’ obsession with human flesh? Check out these and other interesting facts below.
Where do the zombies we see in films and series come from?
As the Oxford English Dictionary points out, the word “zombie” originates in West Africa and was first recorded in 1819 in the English language. One piece of information that proves this point is the existence of the word “nzambi” which designates a specific god of the Voodoo religion, considered to be a “spirit of a dead person”.
Subsequently, people of this religion were trafficked to other countries and forced to serve as slaves. In this way, together with them, their cultural characteristics were also transported and spread throughout the world: in America the fear of the famous “living dead” spread, seen as spirits of deceased people, directly inspired by African and Amerindian cultures.
In Haiti, “jumbi” became “zombi,” in relation to the death and suffering experienced by enslaved blacks, but also to designate, in general, a spirit or ghost. The myth also became a trick, used by colonizers to manipulate slaves into obedience; otherwise they would hire sorcerers to turn black people into zombies.
Despite the end of slavery, there was still a strong belief that a person could be possessed by a spirit and transformed into a zombie. In Haitian culture, in fact, there is a character called “the Bokor sorcerer”, who has the power to transform people into zombies.
Over the years, the term “zombie” has become popular in North America as a fictional creature, and the first film from this region to tell a story with a zombie was the work “White Zombie”, which was widely publicized after the return of the soldiers Americans in their country. during the military occupation of Haiti.
And over time, the zombie myth has become popular all over the world and has given rise to the development of various media, such as films, series, documentaries, books, games and even comics.
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Source: Olhar Digital
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
