48 Introduction

Module Introduction

Having explored four monotheistic and apocalyptic religions—which have influenced world history perhaps more than anything else, real or imagined—it is time to mine zombies, to see where they come from, and that quest takes us to West and Central Africa. Indigenous religions in this part of the world have never been apocalyptic, just as the religions covered in Section One never featured zombies. But death and the return of the dead are highly important elements in Africana religions. Thus we will explore, in Chapter Five, the African languages spoken in the French Caribbean by victims of the transatlantic slave trade. The intention will be multifold, but our primary concern is to understand the origins of the word zombie and the ideas and cultures of the zombie among Africans in the colonial Caribbean. Chapter Six will introduce the extraordinary Creole religion of Haitian Vodou, which is both African- and Catholic-based, followed by a careful exploration of the religion’s pneumatology, or its understanding of the soul, in Chapter Seven. Section Two will then wind down with our consideration of the various forms that zombies take in Haiti, in Haitian Vodou. There is much more going on among zombies in Haiti than Hollywood ever explored, but the silver screen will have to wait until Section Three.