Zombie Apocalypse in contemporary children’s literature Cover Image

Apokalipsa zombie we współczesnej literaturze dziecięcej
Zombie Apocalypse in contemporary children’s literature

Author(s): Katarzyna Slany, Ksenia Olkusz
Subject(s): Studies of Literature
Published by: Polskie Towarzystwo Ludoznawcze
Keywords: zombie apocalypse; horror; posthumanism;children’s literature;

Summary/Abstract: The article Zombie Apocalypse in Contemporary Children’s Literature tackles a subject which has scarcely been mentioned in Polish research on children’s literature: that of catastrophic zombie-centric narratives, elements of which – especially the motif of the zombie apocalypse – are increasingly common in works targeted at children of pre- school and early school age. Three popular English-language picturebooks are interpreted: A Brain Is for Eating (2001) by Dan and Amelia Jacobs with ilustrations by Scott Brundage, Joe McGee and Charles Santoso’s Peanut Butter & Jelly Brains (2015), and Zombie Cat. The Tale of a Decomposing Kitty (2012) by Isabel Atherton and Bethany Straker. The dominant features of these books are respectively: dark carnivalisation and a drastic representation of bloodthirsty monsters; mild carnivalisation and a zombie-child as a humanised phantom; dark carnivalisation with an animal zombie leitmotif. The texts present a multidimensional, grotesque-macabre depiction inspired by children’s folklore and apocalyptic gore cinema, as well as its significance in the context of discourses focused on post-humanism and social issues of importance in the present day. The article also seeks to answer the question of why these subjects are less popular among Polish authors, and what makes them so important in Anglo-Saxon children’s literature.

  • Issue Year: 63/2019
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 13-31
  • Page Count: 19
  • Language: Polish
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