Rhetoric of the Living Dead: A Postcolonial Analysis of Shaun of the DeadRhetoric of the Living Dead: A Postcolonial Analysis of Shaun of the Dead

Author:

• Joe Besl (College of Wooster)

Abstract:

The 2004 British film Shaun of the Dead, while obviously fictional, reversed the trend of many British texts by displaying a domestic attack on British soils, rather than a colonial dominance abroad. This postcolonial analysis of the low-budget zombie film examines the impact of imperialism on contemporary British society and exposes how the typical literary heroism in imperial British narratives has eroded since the heyday of the Empire.