Part 1 of 5 · freeIntroduction
Everyone knows what a zombie looks like: a slow, voiceless dead man, walking aimlessly. The image seems very old. It is not. The movie zombie is a product of the 20th century, when horror films turned it into a monster that eats human flesh.
A much older idea comes from Haiti. Vodou, the local religion, was shaped by West African beliefs, Catholic Christianity, the island's history and popular customs. In this world, the zonbi is not a hungry corpse chasing innocent people. It is a person whose soul or free will has been taken away. A sorcerer, the bokor, practices the magic that allows him to control such beings. How did this Haitian figure become a monster known the world over?
The rest is in the Sophia app.The remaining parts, the open-book quiz and the full glossary. Free to start; Premium unlocks everything.
- 2A word from Haiti
- 3Americans reinvent the creature
- 4Hollywood gives it a body
- 5A global metaphor
Open-book quiz8 questions whose answers are in the text.
Glossary6 terms explained in a tap.
30 languagesThe same course, from French to Japanese.
