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Purdue University

Race. Nation. Zombie: Imperial Masculinities Gazing at the Undead

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

This dissertation argues that zombie narratives have always been about white masculinity and that colonialism is the true living dead monster. The zombie is not the load-bearing signifier in these stories. It is the white men who act as representatives of empire that embody tropes and evolve. This dissertation examines the survivor masculinity in zombie films over time to see how hegemonic masculinity has adapted to a range of national crises. I argue that the failure of white masculinities in these films and novel is rooted in the limited ways of knowing inherent in the Imperial Gaze. Starting in the 1930s, zombie films have attempted to recruit the double consciousness of black men to assist white men in their domination of colonial subjects. Each chapter thus juxtaposes race conflicts within the nation with our imperial actions on the global scale.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Level thesis:degree_level
Dissertation
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
English
Year
2015

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Glasgow, Adryan
Contributors dc:contributor
  • Shaun Hughes
  • Marlo David
  • Alfred Lopez
  • William J Palmer
  • Aparajita Sagar

Subjects

dc:subject × 5

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:docs.lib.purdue.edu:open_access_dissertations-2672

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Purdue University
Base URL
docs.lib.purdue.edu/do/oai/
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Glasgow, Adryan. Race. Nation. Zombie: Imperial Masculinities Gazing at the Undead. Dissertation thesis, 2015. https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_dissertations/1456