One of the conditions of modernism is that, after the early invention of some new kinds of non-human actors and fictional villains, we have not continued to invent more basic kinds. There seems to be a severe ideational limit on the basic kinds of malefactors that we can imagine. Some of these were continuations: witch stories at least as far back as medieval times; robots and zombies are in the line of the golem.
I look at the graph for “Alien†and I see a recumbent totoro.
Science
Good science is independently replicated and independently pushed forward, so despite the poor documentation of the experimental procedure (about which I am surprised the referees did not complain), I replicated the experience and expended to 2008. I’m pleased to report 1) that the second ear of Totoro is clearly drawn by the alien curve between 1999 and 2006 2) that the robot curve is well on its way to draw Chibi-Totoro, so that an absolute and sudden robot peak is clearly predicted for next year and 3) that if one adds the curve for wizard, it clearly starts a Chuu-Totoro graph.
All in all, the Street-Holbo Hypothesis holds strong.
I graphed “zombie”, “voodoo”, and “loa”. I go on to say…
The red line tracks the occurrence of the word “zombie†and the blue line tracks the occurrence of “voodooâ€. As you know voodoo is the Louisiana member of a family of New World religions that combine elements of West African animism with elements of Christianity. As such it is closely related to Santaria (Cuba) and, of course, Voudou (Haiti).
Zombies, as American popular culture has it, are one of the chief objects of Voodoo practice. Notice that the zombie (red) line lags behind the voodoo (blue) line until quite recently, when it crosses it just after the millennium. Zombie is now heading up while voodoo is heading down.
The lag between voodoo and zombie is easy to explain. Zombies—animated corpses—are at best a very minor feature of voodoo lore and practice. But they were featured in a 1932 feature film, White Zombie, and that, presumably, is what brought them into popular culture, where, as we all know, they’ve flourished. That “zombie†continues to be on the way up while “voodoo†is headed down might thus be taken as perhaps a final detachment of zombies from voodoo. Zombies now have lives of their own, as it were.
I note, in passing, that 1932, the pop culture birth of zombies, was a depression year, as are the current years, those of zombies ascendant. If you are a devotee of academic Marxism you may, if you so wish, insert some speculation about zombies as the cultural avatar of the death of capitalism—recall Quiggin’s Zombie Economics.
That’s two of the three lines in the graph. The third, the green line, is for “Loa.†Notice that it shows notable action in 1800 while neither of the others do—well, voodoo just a bit—and it peaks at about 1940 and then falls off in the 1970s. The Loas are the spirits of voodoo. Here’s the Wikipedia gloss:
“They are also referred to as Mystères and the Invisibles, in which are intermediaries between Bondye (Bon Dieu, or good god)—the Creator, who is distant from the world—and humanity. Unlike saints or angels however, they are not simply prayed to, they are served. They are each distinct beings with their own personal likes and dislikes, distinct sacred rhythms, songs, dances, ritual symbols, and special modes of service. Contrary to popular belief, the loa are not deities in and of themselves; they are intermediaries for a distant Bondye.”
Needless to say, the Loa are far more important in voodoo practice and lore than are zombies.
Zombies, I suspect, have more to do with white fears of black Others, than with voodoo as such. Except that now, as the graph seems to indicate, zombies have become detached from voodoo, which may mean that the notion has become detached from white fears of blacks.
But what do we make of that curve for “loa� I don’t quite know. It might almost be an index of actual interest in and reference to voodoo as it is practiced as opposed to how it has been appropriated into the white imagination. But that’s just a crude guess.
… Well, that’s most of the post. But you need to look at the chart or simply run it again yourself. It appears to me that your “robot”, “vampire”, and “frankenstein” track the same pop culture Geist as zombie (in my search).
“Robots”, as well as “aliens”, is a choice in which the pure interest in the ethereal heights of SF/fantasy/horror, is thrown off by the mundane dross of vulgar literalism. Industrial robots are a thing in that literal reality.
Re 6. Completely off-topic, I know, but my wife realised that the words ”Totoro and fuzz balls’ can be sung along to the main theme for that film. And they’re kind of apt given that early scene when they’re cleaning the house. If you know the film and this fact, it will never leave you. Indeed, only this morning as I took my son to school we found ourselves singing those words at the top of our voices (after a very interesting conversation about which additional characters would enliven the Ninjago film; he suggested Jiminy cricket and Totoro).
The Gospel of John, John 6:54-56 New International Version (NIV), says: “54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.â€
So am I to understand that Christianity is a cannibalistic [eats my flesh] vampiric [drinks my blood] zombie [raised up after death at the last day] religion that commands, or at least conditions entry into heaven, upon a person being eating the son of god’s flesh, drinking the son of god’s blood with the ultimate goal to become an undead person or a zombie? Cheers.
Christians are cannibalistic vampires doomed to be zombies in the end times. Or am I missing something?
One of the conditions of modernism is that, after the early invention of some new kinds of non-human actors and fictional villains, we have not continued to invent more basic kinds. There seems to be a severe ideational limit on the basic kinds of malefactors that we can imagine. Some of these were continuations: witch stories at least as far back as medieval times; robots and zombies are in the line of the golem.
I’ve been told — by a person who’d only have acted on good authority and who is good at relaying details, so any error is likely mine — that medieval hungary went in for hunting vampires rather than witches, which was less socially disruptive since the putative vampires were all already dead.
[and about how it was all tied to the re-introduction of cash market trading and the development of “capitalism”, constructed as “like livestock breeding but with money”. Sometimes with secret evil rituals to make the cold coin live, and what-have-you]
You may not be missing anything, but any grade school teacher nun (at least in my day) would tell you that you’re going straight to hell.
Your case is similar to that of clever people who ask what God was doing before the first day of creation. “Building hells for people who ask such questions.”, was Augustine’s answer to that question.
The peak and decline of the word “robot” is in some respects a false result, or rather, I suspect what it actually shows is a concept breaking free of it’s original jargon an inhabiting a plethora of new terms “android”, “replicant”, “artificial intelligence” (plus many variations)…
@8: I’d suggest that computer viruses are a newer form of science fictional (and real) villain. John Brunner’s The Shockwave Rider possibly counts as an early example. Then we have Snowcrash, and it really takes off after that.
A recent history book, The Witch argues that witchcraft trials in early modern England were limited in geographical extent by whether there was a prior folk belief in witches or fairies. (i.e. in places where fairies were the traditional supposed malefactor, witchcraft trial were not common).
The modern zombie concept does indeed seem to have separated from Voodoo. See, for example, George Romero movies. The modern concept seems more like a SF exagerration of rabies (infectious disease whose symptoms include extreme irrational violence).
{ 21 comments }
Mark J. McPherson 11.24.17 at 7:26 am
Whither werewolves?
John Holbo 11.24.17 at 7:33 am
Alien is all false-positives, of course. But I was looking for needles in the haystack.
John Holbo 11.24.17 at 7:38 am
One must focus! This is rigorous research!
Zamfir 11.24.17 at 7:45 am
I can see the false positive for robot- there are non-fictional robots, after all. But what is the false positive for alien? The adjective?
John Holbo 11.24.17 at 8:30 am
“Alien and Sedition Act”. That sort of thing.
Collin Street 11.24.17 at 8:57 am
I look at the graph for “Alien” and I see a recumbent totoro.
John Holbo 11.24.17 at 10:59 am
“I look at the graph for “Alien†and I see a recumbent totoro.”
Science!
Lee A. Arnold 11.24.17 at 1:28 pm
One of the conditions of modernism is that, after the early invention of some new kinds of non-human actors and fictional villains, we have not continued to invent more basic kinds. There seems to be a severe ideational limit on the basic kinds of malefactors that we can imagine. Some of these were continuations: witch stories at least as far back as medieval times; robots and zombies are in the line of the golem.
Z 11.24.17 at 1:56 pm
I look at the graph for “Alien†and I see a recumbent totoro.
Science
Good science is independently replicated and independently pushed forward, so despite the poor documentation of the experimental procedure (about which I am surprised the referees did not complain), I replicated the experience and expended to 2008. I’m pleased to report 1) that the second ear of Totoro is clearly drawn by the alien curve between 1999 and 2006 2) that the robot curve is well on its way to draw Chibi-Totoro, so that an absolute and sudden robot peak is clearly predicted for next year and 3) that if one adds the curve for wizard, it clearly starts a Chuu-Totoro graph.
All in all, the Street-Holbo Hypothesis holds strong.
Bill Benzon 11.24.17 at 4:06 pm
John, You need to look at a post I did in 2011, Zombies Rising:
https://new-savanna.blogspot.com/2011/10/zombies-rising.html
I graphed “zombie”, “voodoo”, and “loa”. I go on to say…
The red line tracks the occurrence of the word “zombie†and the blue line tracks the occurrence of “voodooâ€. As you know voodoo is the Louisiana member of a family of New World religions that combine elements of West African animism with elements of Christianity. As such it is closely related to Santaria (Cuba) and, of course, Voudou (Haiti).
Zombies, as American popular culture has it, are one of the chief objects of Voodoo practice. Notice that the zombie (red) line lags behind the voodoo (blue) line until quite recently, when it crosses it just after the millennium. Zombie is now heading up while voodoo is heading down.
The lag between voodoo and zombie is easy to explain. Zombies—animated corpses—are at best a very minor feature of voodoo lore and practice. But they were featured in a 1932 feature film, White Zombie, and that, presumably, is what brought them into popular culture, where, as we all know, they’ve flourished. That “zombie†continues to be on the way up while “voodoo†is headed down might thus be taken as perhaps a final detachment of zombies from voodoo. Zombies now have lives of their own, as it were.
I note, in passing, that 1932, the pop culture birth of zombies, was a depression year, as are the current years, those of zombies ascendant. If you are a devotee of academic Marxism you may, if you so wish, insert some speculation about zombies as the cultural avatar of the death of capitalism—recall Quiggin’s Zombie Economics.
That’s two of the three lines in the graph. The third, the green line, is for “Loa.†Notice that it shows notable action in 1800 while neither of the others do—well, voodoo just a bit—and it peaks at about 1940 and then falls off in the 1970s. The Loas are the spirits of voodoo. Here’s the Wikipedia gloss:
“They are also referred to as Mystères and the Invisibles, in which are intermediaries between Bondye (Bon Dieu, or good god)—the Creator, who is distant from the world—and humanity. Unlike saints or angels however, they are not simply prayed to, they are served. They are each distinct beings with their own personal likes and dislikes, distinct sacred rhythms, songs, dances, ritual symbols, and special modes of service. Contrary to popular belief, the loa are not deities in and of themselves; they are intermediaries for a distant Bondye.”
Needless to say, the Loa are far more important in voodoo practice and lore than are zombies.
Zombies, I suspect, have more to do with white fears of black Others, than with voodoo as such. Except that now, as the graph seems to indicate, zombies have become detached from voodoo, which may mean that the notion has become detached from white fears of blacks.
But what do we make of that curve for “loa� I don’t quite know. It might almost be an index of actual interest in and reference to voodoo as it is practiced as opposed to how it has been appropriated into the white imagination. But that’s just a crude guess.
… Well, that’s most of the post. But you need to look at the chart or simply run it again yourself. It appears to me that your “robot”, “vampire”, and “frankenstein” track the same pop culture Geist as zombie (in my search).
Anarcissie 11.24.17 at 4:16 pm
It’s a big alien cat, looking west.
Glen Tomkins 11.24.17 at 4:39 pm
“Robots”, as well as “aliens”, is a choice in which the pure interest in the ethereal heights of SF/fantasy/horror, is thrown off by the mundane dross of vulgar literalism. Industrial robots are a thing in that literal reality.
Glen Tomkins 11.24.17 at 4:40 pm
“Witch” is the standout once you allow for literal usage.
Steve 11.24.17 at 9:34 pm
Re 6. Completely off-topic, I know, but my wife realised that the words ”Totoro and fuzz balls’ can be sung along to the main theme for that film. And they’re kind of apt given that early scene when they’re cleaning the house. If you know the film and this fact, it will never leave you. Indeed, only this morning as I took my son to school we found ourselves singing those words at the top of our voices (after a very interesting conversation about which additional characters would enliven the Ninjago film; he suggested Jiminy cricket and Totoro).
John Holbo 11.24.17 at 11:57 pm
“And they’re kind of apt given that early scene when they’re cleaning the house. If you know the film and this fact, it will never leave you.”
Ma-ku-ro-ku-ro-SKI.
Something like that. I’ve only watched it 75 times with my daughters and so, of course, will never forget.
Thanks for the link, Bill!
StephenLaudig 11.25.17 at 12:30 am
The Gospel of John, John 6:54-56 New International Version (NIV), says: “54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.â€
So am I to understand that Christianity is a cannibalistic [eats my flesh] vampiric [drinks my blood] zombie [raised up after death at the last day] religion that commands, or at least conditions entry into heaven, upon a person being eating the son of god’s flesh, drinking the son of god’s blood with the ultimate goal to become an undead person or a zombie? Cheers.
Christians are cannibalistic vampires doomed to be zombies in the end times. Or am I missing something?
Collin Street 11.25.17 at 3:16 am
One of the conditions of modernism is that, after the early invention of some new kinds of non-human actors and fictional villains, we have not continued to invent more basic kinds. There seems to be a severe ideational limit on the basic kinds of malefactors that we can imagine. Some of these were continuations: witch stories at least as far back as medieval times; robots and zombies are in the line of the golem.
I’ve been told — by a person who’d only have acted on good authority and who is good at relaying details, so any error is likely mine — that medieval hungary went in for hunting vampires rather than witches, which was less socially disruptive since the putative vampires were all already dead.
[and about how it was all tied to the re-introduction of cash market trading and the development of “capitalism”, constructed as “like livestock breeding but with money”. Sometimes with secret evil rituals to make the cold coin live, and what-have-you]
Glen Tomkins 11.25.17 at 2:10 pm
Stephen Laudig,
You may not be missing anything, but any grade school teacher nun (at least in my day) would tell you that you’re going straight to hell.
Your case is similar to that of clever people who ask what God was doing before the first day of creation. “Building hells for people who ask such questions.”, was Augustine’s answer to that question.
Joseph Brenner 11.25.17 at 9:04 pm
The peak and decline of the word “robot” is in some respects a false result, or rather, I suspect what it actually shows is a concept breaking free of it’s original jargon an inhabiting a plethora of new terms “android”, “replicant”, “artificial intelligence” (plus many variations)…
SusanC 11.26.17 at 12:29 am
@8: I’d suggest that computer viruses are a newer form of science fictional (and real) villain. John Brunner’s The Shockwave Rider possibly counts as an early example. Then we have Snowcrash, and it really takes off after that.
A recent history book, The Witch argues that witchcraft trials in early modern England were limited in geographical extent by whether there was a prior folk belief in witches or fairies. (i.e. in places where fairies were the traditional supposed malefactor, witchcraft trial were not common).
SusanC 11.26.17 at 12:36 am
The modern zombie concept does indeed seem to have separated from Voodoo. See, for example, George Romero movies. The modern concept seems more like a SF exagerration of rabies (infectious disease whose symptoms include extreme irrational violence).
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