Rereadings, Refigurations and Survival of the Living Dead
Abstract
The aim of the work is to show, through different typologies of rereadings and refigurations, the survival of the living dead as cultural figure and his adaptive ability within cultural backgrounds that are in a continuous redefinition.It will be considered two methods of survival:
- The polyhedral of cultural discourse the living dead produces in his literary and cinematographic representation;
- The proliferation of the living dead within contemporary media context, especially with the so-called “crossmedia narrations”;
In the first case, three different cinematographic adaptations taken from the movie Dawn of the Dead (1978) shot by the American filmmaker George Romero will be analyzed to demonstrate the adaptive ability of the living dead. In the second case, the work will reflect about the overexposure of the living dead among the contemporary media ways.
By analyzing the two methods the work will try to trace the relationships between man and the removal of the concept of death within the postmodern society, in order to understand the expressive and representative strategies implemented by contemporary culture towards the removed of death that comes back.
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Filmografia
Das Kabinet der Doktor Caligaris, Dir. Robert Wiene, Deutschland, 1920.
Dawn of the Dead, Dir. George A. Romero, U.S.A., 1978.
Fido, Dir. Andrew Currie, Canada, 2006.
King of the Zombie, Dir. Victor Halperin, U.S.A., 1936.
J’accuse, Dir. Abel Glance, France, 1919.
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L. A. Zombie, Dir. Bruce LaBruce, U.S.A., 2010.
L’ultimo uomo sulla terra, Dir. Ubaldo Ragona, Italia, 1964.
Land of the Dead, Dir. George A. Romero, U.S.A., 2005.
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Night of the Living Dead, Dir. George A. Romero, U.S.A., 1968.
Otto; or Up with the Dead People, Dir. Bruce LaBruce, Deutschland, 2008.
Resident Evil, Dir. Paul W. S. Anderson, England, Germany, U.S.A., 2002.
Shaun of the Dead, Dir. Edgar Wright, England, France, 2004.
Survival of the Dead, Dir. George A. Romero, Canada, U.S.A., 2009.
The Animatrix, Dir. Peter Chung, Andy Jones, et. al., Japan, U.S.A., 2003.
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The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Dir. Chris Weitz, U.S.A., 2009.
The Twilight Saga: Eclypse, Dir. David Slade, U.S.A., 2010.
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White Zombie, Dir. Victor Halperin, U.S.A., 1932.
Zombieland, Dir. Ruben Fleischer, U.S.A., 2009.
Zombie Strippers, Dir. Jay Lee, U.S.A., 2008.
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