![Sample our Language & Literature journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5941/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Language-Literature.jpg"})
ABSTRACT
American Movie Classics’ (AMC) popular television series The Walking Dead (2010–present) transports viewers into an apocalyptic zombie dystopia where the lines between safety and precarity, being governed and governing, or being alive and/or dead slip and change. Utilizing Achille Mbembe’s term “necropolitics”, the article explores The Walking Dead’s representation of governance and power in terms of individual and group security. While the zombie has been understood as the liminal figure par excellence, The Walking Dead’s non-zombie characters illustrate diasporic liminality as refugees, hovering on or near the threshold of death. The scale of suffering or prosperity is determined by who leads or governs. Frequently, those deemed “in charge” exercise power and control to discipline, to punish, and to provide security. The series offers a metaphor for the potential uses of power in biological, environmental, or natural disaster situations where survivors grapple with scarce resources and the constant presence of death.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Lauren O’Mahony
Lauren O’Mahony is a lecturer in global media and communication at Murdoch University, Western Australia. Much of her research focusses on Australian women’s literature as well as the analysis of popular television, creativity, media audiences, and creative non-fiction. Her research has been published in The Australasian Journal of Popular Culture, The Journal of Popular Romance Studies, Communication Research and Practice, and Text Journal as well as the edited books Theorizing Ethnicity in the Chick-Lit Genre (2019) and The Routledge Research Companion to Popular Romance Fiction (2021).
Melissa Merchant
Melissa Merchant completed her doctorate at Murdoch University, Western Australia, where she is is currently a lecturer in English and theatre and a fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). Her current research is divided between representation of children in The Walking Dead and popular culture representations of Shakespeare. She has contributed to The Seventeenth Century, Outskirts, and M/C Journal and published a chapter in The Routledge Companion to Disability and the Media (2020). She is also a professional actress who has performed in cross-cultural collaborations in Southeast Asia in partnership with the University of Malaya and the Temple of Fine Arts, Malaysia.
Simon Order
Simon Order’s research specializes in two main areas. First, radio studies, which includes radio production, community media, and Australian community radio. Second, music technology studies, which includes user-interface usability, student creativity in sound production studies, and music technology in teaching and learning. His professional background includes audio production roles in the UK television and music industries, radio station manager, and professional photographer. He continues his professional practice as a composer and producer of electronic music under the artist name “Liminal Drifter”.