The Popular Zombie

Whereas chapters 1 through 3 of this book show that the zombie has been widely appropriated by “highbrow” literary fiction of the French Caribbean, especially of Haiti, the final chapter explores a trait that characterizes the zombie both in the French Caribbean and in Hollywood B movies: its status as a “popular” figure, meaning both its association with popular culture (whether folklore or mass media), and its symbolic connection to the masses. Gary Victor—widely considered the most popular writer in Haiti—revives and foregrounds the zombie’s association with popular culture and the populace, as he writes for a wide Haitian audience, in works inspired by popular culture traditions both local (lodyans) and global in scope. Ultimately, this chapter argues that while Victor finds the living dead figure a useful tool for political critique, he also indicates the limits of the zombie as an emblem of the people.