The anthropology of the infected in “The Walking Dead”

Prof. Jorge Martínez LucenaUniversitat Abat Oliba CEU (Barcelona)

• Since The Sopranos (HBO, 1999-2007) we have lived in a golden age of TV fiction (quantity and quality) (Sepinwall, 2013)

• TV series are contemporary extensions of the model of construction of imaginaries proposed by Hollywood to Western civilization (Pérez, 2011: 13)

• Reasons for success: subscription cable networks, transmedia products (TV, web, social networks, videogames, books, etc.), easy access (the Internet), etc.

The power of TV series

• Cinematic quality (casting, screenplay, direction,…).

• Responds to our present-day fascination with zombies: comics -Marved zombies, The Walking Dead, Crossed-, films -28 days later (2002), 28 weeks later (2007), Dawn of the Dead (2004), Zombieland (2009), Shaun of the Dead (2004), World War Z (2013)-, videogames -Resident Evil-, apps -Zombiebooth, Zombies Run-, cartoons -Simpson, Spongebob-, toys and dolls -Monster high-, TV series -Dead Set (2008), Les revenants (2012), In the flesh (2013).

• Very successful in AMC (4 seasons until now).

The Walking Dead: a paradigmatic TV series

• Metanarratives and ideologies have fallen apart during postmodernity (Lyotard, 1979)

• This situation has provoked anomia in individuals (Durkheim, 1983): 1) Psychological malaise due to meaningless existence; 2) Individualism and social atomization.

• How can the postmodern self manage the individual meaning of life? How can our society remain unified?

A postmodern problem

• Social imaginaries are those images or arrays of images that we share socially at the conscious or unconscious level and which let us establish normalcy/abnormalcy and real/unreal criteria.

• Myths are crystallizations of certain social imaginaries that help us find meaning in our lives and that have the power to create society.

• Two kind of myths: a) founding myths (rational and religious metanarratives) and b) micro-mythologies (identity through consumption)

• Micro-mythologies: 1. reenchant our lives provoking feelings of intensity; 2. generate new tribes (Maffesoli, 1990).

• Examples: celebrities, football teams, adverts, logos, video-clips, TV series…

Your daily dose of drama: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OIJRMqYAA0

Postmodern micro-mythologies

• TWD is a postmodern micro-mythology that has had an important social impact.

• Every myth includes its own anthropology.

• Thesis: The infected survivor image is the main contribution of this TV series to anthropology.

The Walking Dead: the infected survivor

Postmodern spectators experience two processes in viewing any TV series:

a) Alignment: “concerns the way a film gives us access to the actions, thoughts and feelings of the characters” (Smith, 1995: 6)

The novelty of the infected survivors

b) Allegiance: “concerns the way a film attempts to marshal our sympathies for or against the various characters in the world of fiction” (Smith, 1995: 6).

The novelty of the infected survivors

Identification levels between spectator and infected survivors:

• Anthropology: Searching for happiness or welfare = Searching for a place to live in peace

• Materialist society (crisis, 9-11,…) + predominant economic and scientific discourse: life = survival (without impossible things).

• Postmodern society: a) anxiety (anomia) = continuous fight for survival; b) inability to rely on metanarrative = infection.

• According to Kirkman’s explanation, TWD will never end. There will not be a catharsis. The secret of our addiction to this TV series is our identification with the infected (through moments of feeling)

The novelty of the infected survivors

a) TWD focuses on the infected condition of different characters which can be seen in their behaviour.

b) This infection is inside (illness) and outside (apocalyptic world)

c) The survivors tend to dehumanize themselves trying to survive (Shane)

d) Nevertheless, there are some moments when certain characters embody an impossible humanity (because of their infection and duress).

e) But… How can we explain this humanity or moments of humanhood if the infected condition (measured, calculated,…) seems to make it impossible?

f) Two possibilities: a) Education (Dale); and/or b) Openness to something that happens: “An unexpected event is the only hope” (Montale)

Humanity and the infected survivors

• A boy who belongs to a violent group of survivors that has attacked the protagonists has been captured.

• The protagonists cannot put him in jail because there are no prisons.

• If he escapes, he can tell his group where the protagonists are living, which is extremely dangerous.

• The protagonists vote and decide to kill him in order to solve the problem.

• Dale is the only one who opposes this measure, defending the traditional value of every person…

• Let’s see what happens in min. 35 (second season, 11st episode)

Example of this openess to something that happens

There is something in our experience of humanhood that surpasses our economic and scientific model of reasoning. In certain moments we can experience this human thing, though it remains contradictory to our logocentric model of reasoning.

These moments of feeling help us to perceive the surplus of which humanhood consists.

The impossible happens

Example of derridean paradox: We experience forgiveness. What is it? Forgiveness free doesn’t accept an economy but there is always a reason to forgive a reason to forgive means an exchange, because you forgive in order to obtain something so, there is an economy which means that forgiveness is not possible or that the only way to get forgiveness is to forgive something that is unforgivable, because there is no economic reason to forgive the unforgivable but… something that is unforgivable cannot be forgiven because in our language the unforgivable is something you are not able to forgive so, again, we can conclude that forgiveness is impossible. (But we experience forgiveness) (Derrida, 2002)

The impossible happens

So, we are all infected, but we experience that we are human. To be human is a given impossible event that happens. But we need an open reason to acknowledge it.

The impossible happens

The End(If you want to know more about this and you can read

Spanish, don’t hesitate to read my book)