Abstract
In this chapter we analyze the Zombie Walks in Cordoba, Argentina, both as a performance and as a type of cultural occupation of city streets. The ethnographic field work was carried out from 2011 to 2019. It involved accompanying youth who promoted, organized, and participated in the zombie march, doing in-depth interviews, and elaborating a genealogy of the zombie figure considering film, literature, and video games. Our analysis centers on the networks of relationships and cooperative activities that tie into the Zombie Walk and proposes that a comprehension of youth presence on the streets requires considering the material conditions that make it possible. Particularly, we focus on the coordination of local traditions of experiences that intertwine fictional universes, fan endeavors, and state management of youth recreation and entertainment.
Translated by Nicole Eileen Tyler.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Cordoba is known for many historical turning points associated with processes of liberal, revolutionary change like the Reforma Universitaria (1918), a student uprising that transformed the university faculty and lead to more democratic teaching, and the Cordobazo (1969), an insurrection produced from a student-worker alliance that caused a chain reaction resulting in the fall of the military regime that had taken control in the 1966 coup.
- 2.
The interviews were in-person and lasted approximately an hour and a half. Names of the interviewees are not given in order to protect their anonymity.
- 3.
For an analysis on the consequences of this metaphor in relation to government and the preparation of citizens for future disasters and threats, see Rahm & Skågeby (2016).
- 4.
During some editions, a stop was incorporated between the Plaza San Martín and the final destination, the Paseo del Buen Pastor. This place was home to a women’s correctional jail for over a hundred years and it continued to operate during the last military dictatorship, holding political detainees. In 2007 it was transformed into a cultural and tourist complex where young students gather.
- 5.
Mid-twentieth century musical piece that identifies Peronism.
- 6.
These demands reached a climax in the establishment of a social movement that camped on the land that the factory would have occupied and led the judicial process of the protest to avoid the plant’s installation (Carrizo et al., 2016).
- 7.
Available at https://www.facebook.com/events/922633634573834/. Accessed on: 12/09/2019.
- 8.
This interview was done on 04/25/2019.
- 9.
To be exact, cosplay as an activity in Cordoba preceded the conventions. Years before they took place, a group of young people decided to personify their favorite characters and attend a cinema event that projected animated Japanese movies and series. When the screening was over, they went to a park in the city with their costumes on and remained there until nightfall, which sparked the curiosity of passerby.
- 10.
Interview done on 04/10/2019.
- 11.
Interview with municipal official on 04/25/2019.
- 12.
La Dirección de Juventud (Youth Directorate) was dependent on the Secretaría de Gobierno, Participación Ciudadana y Desarrollo Social (Secretary of Government, Citizen Participation, and Social Development). Their actions were oriented around six pillars: “health and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases (sic), addiction prevention and counseling, employment, vocational education and orientation, culture and sports, road awareness, and environmental awareness.” Available at: https://www.cordoba.gob.ar/servicios-viejos/juventud/. Accessed on: 12/09/2019.
- 13.
In the 2018 edition, the municipality installed a stand at the march’s end point to raise awareness about the effects of alcohol consumption. The intervention consisted in distributing glasses that simulated the alterations in vision that alcohol generates, as well as encouraging youth to play games that allowed them realize on their own the risks that they are exposed to when in a drunken state.
Bibliography
Abbott, S. (2016). Undead Apocalypse. Vampires and Zombies in the Twenty-First Century. Edinburgh University Press.
Austin, E. (2015). Zombie Culture: Dissent, Celebration and the Carnivalesque in Social Spaces. In L. Hubner, M. Leaning, & P. Manning (Eds.), The Zombie Renaissance in Popular Culture (pp. 174–190). Palgrave Macmillan.
Barth, F. (2000). O guru e o iniciador: transações de conhecimento e moldagem da cultura no sudeste da Ásia e na Melanésia. In O guru, o iniciador e outras variações antropológicas (pp. 107–140). Contracapa.
Bateson, G. (2004 [1972]). A Theory of Play and Fantasy. In H. Bial (Ed.), The Performance Studies Reader (pp. 121–131). Routledge.
Bawden, G., & Noveck, C. (2012). Letra muerta. Una novela en la Argentina postapocalíptica. Fan Ediciones/Llanto de mudo.
Becker, H. S. ([1982] 2008). Los mundos del arte. Sociología del trabajo artístico. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes.
Benjamín, W. (1989). La obra de arte en la época de su reproductibilidad técnica. In Discursos Interrumpidos I (pp. 15–60). Taurus.
Blázquez, G. (2016). Zombis. Algunas notas sobre un monstruo (pos)colonial. In M. De la Peza, & M. Rufer (Eds), Nación y estudios culturales. Debates desde la poscolonialidad, pp. 179-207. : UAM, Itaca.
Blázquez, G., & Liarte, A. (2018). De salidas y derivas. Anthropological Groove y la noche como espacio etnográfico. Íconos, 60, 193–216.
Borda, L. (2015). Fanatismo y redes de reciprocidad. La Trama de la Comunicación, 19, 67–87.
Brennan, J. P. (1996). El Cordobazo. Las guerras obreras en Córdoba, 1955–1976. Editorial Sudamericana.
Bröckling, U. (2015). El self emprendedor. Sociología de una forma de subjetivación. Ediciones Universidad Alberto Hurtado.
Brooks, M. (2003). The Zombie Survival Guide. Random House.
Carrizo, C., Ferreyra, C., Astudillo, D., & Soldá, S. (2016). ¡Fuera Monsanto! Del poder comunicativo de la protesta ambiental a la elaboración de ley protectora. Sustentabilidad(es), 7(13), 5–30.
Castillo, D. R. (2016). Zombie Masses: Monsters for the Age of Global Capitalism. In D. R. Castillo, D. Schmid, D. A. Reilly, & J. E. Browning (Eds.), Zombie Talk: Culture, History, Politics (pp. 39–62). Palgrave Macmillan.
Cavicchi, D. (1998). Tramps Like Us. Music and Meaning Among Springsteen Fans. Oxford University Press.
Cocarla, S. (2011). Reclaiming Public Spaces Through Performance of the Zombie Walk. In R. Smith (Ed.), Braaaiiinnnsss! From Academics to Zombies (pp. 113–131). University of Ottawa Press.
de Souza Lima, A. C. (2013). O exercício da tutela sobre os povos indígenas: considerações para o entendimento das políticas indigenistas no Brasil contemporâneo. Revista de Antropologia, 55(2), 781–832.
Deleuze, G., & Guattari, F. (2004). Mil mesetas. Capitalismo y esquizofrenia. Pre-textos.
Díaz, M. C. (2018). Vestir las esencias: experiencias de cosplayers en Córdoba. Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios sobre Cuerpos, Emociones y Sociedad, 28, 67–75.
Díaz, M. C. (2019a). Cultivar a vida: uma etnografia entre ativistas canábicos em Argentina. Doctoral dissertation, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Díaz, M. C. (2019b). Historias detrás de objetos. Organizadores y vendedores en un circuito de eventos. Vibrant – Virtual Brazilian Anthropology, 16, e16206.
Do Vale, S. (2010). Trash Mob: Zombie Walks and the Positivity of Monsters in Western Popular Culture. In M. Canini (Ed.), The Domination of Fear (pp. 191–202). Rodopi.
Fernández Gonzalo, J. (2011). Filosofía Zombi. Anagrama.
Foucault, M. (1996). Tecnologías del yo y otros textos afines. Paidós & Instituto de Educación de la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona.
Fridman, D. (2019). El sueño de vivir sin trabajar. Una sociología del emprendedorismo, la autoayuda financiera y el nuevo individuo del siglo XXI. Siglo XXI Editores.
Gago, V. (2014). La razón neoliberal. Economías barrocas y pragmática popular. Tinta Limón.
Gaona, M., & Ficoseco, V. S. (2015). Otros cuerpos y espacios en disputa. Cruces entre consignas globales y demandas históricas locales en la Marcha del Orgullo en una región de frontera argentina. Revista Nomadías, 20, 211–226.
García Canclini, N., & Urteaga, M. (coords.). (2012). Cultura y desarrollo. Una visión crítica desde los jóvenes. Paidós.
Golub, A. (2017). Stomping the Undead: A Blues Theory of Zombie Culture. Quarterly Horse: A Journal of [Brief] American Studies, 1(3), 1–6.
Hubner, L., Leaning, M., & Manning, P. (Eds.). (2015). The Zombie Renaissance in Popular Culture. Palgrave Macmillan.
Jenkins, H. (1992). Textual Poachers. Television Fans & Participatory Culture. Routledge.
Jenkins, H. (2006). Fans, Bloggers and Gamers. Exploring Participatory Culture. New York University Press.
Kuhling, C. L. (2017). Zombie Banks, Zombie Politics and the ‘walking zombie movement’: Liminality and the Post-Crisis Irish Imaginary. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 20(4), 397–412.
Landa, M. I., Blázquez, G., & Castro, C. (2019). Emprender como estilo de vida. La actitud en las dinámicas laborales de trabajadores del fitness y el entretenimiento infantil (Córdoba, Argentina). Debats. Revista de cultura, poder y sociedad, 133(1), 27–45.
Lauro, S. J. (Ed.). (2017). Zombie Theory. A Reader. University of Minnesota Press.
McAlister, E. (2012). Slaves, Cannibals, and Infected Hyper-Whites: The Race and Religion of Zombies. Division II Faculty Publications, Paper 115. Retrieved from: http://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/div
Morehead, J. (2012). Zombie Walks, Zombie Jesus, and the Eschatology of Postmodern Flesh. In K. Paffenroth & J. Morehead (Eds.), The Undead and Theology (pp. 101–123). Wipf and Stock Publishers.
Moreno, A. (2008). La invisibilidad como injusticia. Estrategias del movimiento de la diversidad sexual. In M. Pecheny, C. Figari, & D. Jones (Eds.), Todo sexo es político: Estudios sobre sexualidad en Argentina (pp. 217–243). Libros del Zorzal.
Nyong’o, T. (2017). The Scene of Occupation. In S. J. Lauro (Ed.), Zombie Theory: A Reader (pp. 316–331). University of Minnesota Press.
Orpana, S. (2017). Spooks of Niopower: The Uncanny Carnivalesque of Zombie Walks. In S. J. Lauro (Ed.), Zombie Theory: A Reader (pp. 294–315). University of Minnesota Press.
Peake, B. (2010). He Is Dead, and He Is Continuing to Die: A Feminist Psycho-Semiotic Reflection on Men’s Embodiment of Metaphor in a Toronto Zombie Walk. Journal of Contemporary Anthropology, 1(1), 49–71.
Rahm, L., & Skågeby, J. (2016). Preparing for Monsters: Governance by Popular Culture. Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies, 15, 76–95.
Riley, B. (2015). Zombie Walks and the Public Sphere. Transformative Works and Cultures, 18, 1–7. Retrieved from: https://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/download/641/508?inline=1
Rodríguez, P. (2015). #Ni una menos. Planeta.
Rose, N. (1992). Governing the Enterprising Self. In P. Heelas & P. Morris (Eds.), The Values of the Enterprise Culture: The Moral Debate (pp. 141–163). Routledge.
Sanna, A. (2015). Consumerism and the Undead City: The Silent Hill and Resident Evil Films. In L. Hubner, M. Leaning, & P. Manning (Eds.), The Zombie Renaissance in Popular Culture (pp. 56–69). Palgrave Macmillan.
Schechner, R. (2000). Performance: Teoría y prácticas interculturales. Libros del Rojas.
Schott, G., & Burn, A. (2007). Fan-Art as a Function of Agency in Odd World Fan-Culture. In A. Clarke & G. Mitchell (Eds.), Videogames and Art (pp. 238–254). Intellect.
Tamagnini, M. L. (2018). Artes de ordenar la noche. Una etnografía de la gestión gubernamental de la diversión en la ciudad de Córdoba. Doctoral dissertation, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina.
Taussig, M. (1987). Shamanism, Colonialism and the Wild Man: A Study in Terror and Healing. University of Chicago Press.
Taussig, M. (1993). Mimesis and Alterity. A Particular History of the Senses. Routledge.
Taussig, M. (1997). The Magic of the State. Routledge.
Taussig, M. (2012). Beauty and the Beast. University of Chicago Press.
Taylor, D. (2011). Introducción. performance, teoría y práctica. In D. Taylor & M. Fuentes (Eds.), Estudios avanzados de performance (pp. 7–30). Fondo de Cultura Económica.
Turner, V., & Bruner, E. (Eds.). (1986). The Anthropology of Experience. University of Illinois Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Blázquez, G., Díaz, M.C. (2021). When the Zombies Come Marching. Performances in Public Spaces, Mimetic Pleasures, and Entrepreneurial Youth in Cordoba (Argentina). In: Campos, R., Nofre, J. (eds) Exploring Ibero-American Youth Cultures in the 21st Century. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-83541-5_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-83541-5_12
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-83540-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-83541-5
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)