The dark history of zombies - Christopher M. Moreman

翻译人员: Cindy Song 校对人员: Yuwei Wu

Animated corpses appear in stories all over the world

在有记载的历史中，动画尸体出现在

throughout recorded history.

世界各地的故事中。

But zombies have a distinct lineage—

但是僵尸有一个独特的血统——

one that traces back to Equatorial and Central Africa.

可以追溯到赤道和中非。

The first clue is in the word “zombie” itself.

第一条线索就在 “僵尸” 这个词上.

Its exact etymological origins are unknown,

它的确切词源是未知的，

but there are several candidates.

但有几个可能性。

The Mitsogho people of Gabon, for example, use the word “ndzumbi” for corpse.

例如，加蓬的米佐戈人使用 “ndzumbi” 这个词来表示尸体。

The Kikongo word “nzambi” refers variously to the supreme being,

Kikongo 语言中 “nzambi” 指的是至高无上的存在、

an ancestor with superhuman abilities, or another deity.

具有超人能力的祖先或其他神灵。

And, in certain languages spoken in Angola and the Congo,

而且，在某些语言中， 比如安哥拉和刚果，

“zumbi” refers to an object inhabited by a spirit,

“zumbi” 指的是一个 有灵魂居住的物体，

or someone returned from the dead.

或者是从死里复活的人。

There are also similarities in certain cultural beliefs.

某些文化信仰也有相似之处。

For example, in Kongo tradition, it’s thought that once someone dies,

例如，在金刚传统中， 人们认为一旦有人死了，

their spirit can be housed in a physical object

他们的灵魂可以被安置在一个

which might bring protection and good luck.

可以带来保护和好运的物体中。

Similar beliefs about what might happen to someone’s soul

非洲各地都持有类似的关于人死后

after death are held in various parts of Africa.

灵魂可能发生的事情的信念。

Between 1517 and 1804,

1517 年至 1804 年间，

France and Spain enslaved hundreds of thousands of African people,

法国和西班牙奴役了数十万非洲人，

taking them to the Caribbean island

将他们带到现在包含海地

that now contains Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

和多米尼加共和国 的加勒比岛屿。

There, the religious beliefs of enslaved African people

在那里，被奴役的非洲人民宗教信仰

mixed with the Catholic traditions of colonial authorities

与殖民当局的天主教传 统混合在一起，

and a religion known as “vodou” developed.

发展出一种被称为 “伏都教” 的宗教。

According to some vodou beliefs, a person’s soul can be captured and stored,

根据一些巫毒信仰， 一个人的灵魂可以被捕获和储存，

becoming a body-less “zombi.”

成为一个没有身体的 “僵尸”。

Alternatively, if a body isn’t properly attended to soon after death,

或者，如果一具尸体在死后不久没有得到妥善照顾，

a sorcerer called a “bokor” can capture a corpse

一个名为 “bokor” 的巫师 可以捕获一具尸体

and turn it into a soulless zombi that will perform their bidding.

并将其变成一个没有灵魂 并执行他们的命令的僵尸。

Historically, these zombis were said to be put to work as laborers

从历史上看， 据说这些僵尸是作为劳动者工作的，

who needed neither food nor rest and would enrich their captor’s fortune.

他们不需要食物也不需要休息， 并会丰富俘虏的财富。

In other words, zombification seemed to represent the horrors of enslavement

换句话说，僵尸化似乎代表了许多

that many Haitian people experienced.

海地人所经历的奴役的恐怖。

It was the worst possible fate:

这是最糟糕的命运：

a form of enslavement that not even death could free you from.

一种甚至死亡也无法 让你摆脱的奴役形式。

The zombi was deprived of an afterlife and trapped in eternal subjugation.

僵尸被剥夺了来世， 陷入了永恒的征服。

Because of this, in Haitian culture,

正因为如此，在海地文化中，

zombis are commonly seen as victims deserving of sympathy and care.

僵尸通常被视为 值得同情和关心的受害者。

The zombie underwent a transformation after the US occupation

1915 年美国开始占领海地后，

of Haiti began in 1915—

僵尸经历了一次转变——

this time, through the lens of Western pop culture.

这一次是通过西方流行文化的视角。

During the occupation, US citizens propagated many racist beliefs

在占领期间，美国公民传播了许多

about Black Haitian people.

关于黑海地人的种族主义信仰。

Among false accounts of devil worship and human sacrifice,

在关于恶魔崇拜和 人类牺牲的虚假报道中，

zombie stories captured the American imagination.

僵尸故事吸引了美国人的想象力。

And in 1932, zombies debuted on the big screen

1932 年，僵尸在一部名为 《白色僵尸》的电影中

in a film called “White Zombie.”

首次出现在大银幕上。

Set in Haiti, the film’s protagonist must rescue his fiancée

故事设定在海地， 这部电影的主角必须从一个邪恶的

from an evil vodou master who runs a sugar mill using zombi labor.

巫毒大师手中救出他的未婚妻， 他用僵尸劳动力经营着一家糖厂。

Notably, the film's main object of sympathy isn't the enslaved workforce,

值得注意的是， 这部电影的主要同情对象不是被奴役的劳动力，

but the victimized white woman.

而是受害的白人女性。

Over the following decades, zombies appeared in many American films,

在接下来的几十年里， 僵尸出现在许多美国电影中，

usually with loose references to Haitian culture,

通常对海地文化有松散的提及，

though some veered off to involve aliens and Nazis.

尽管有些电影转向涉及外星人和纳粹分子。

Then came the wildly influential 1968 film “Night of the Living Dead,”

接下来是 1968 年 极具影响力的电影《活死人之夜》，

in which a group of strangers tries to survive an onslaught

其中一群陌生人试图 在行动缓慢的食肉怪物

of slow-moving, flesh-eating monsters.

的猛攻中幸存下来。

The film’s director remarked that he never envisioned his living dead as zombies.

这部电影的导演表示， 他从未将活死人想象成僵尸。

Instead, it was the audience who recognized them as such.

相反，是观众认出了他们。

But from then on, zombies became linked to an insatiable craving for flesh—

但从那时起，僵尸开始与 对肉体的渴望联系在一起——

with a particular taste for brains added in 1985′s “The Return of the Living Dead.”

在 1985 年的 “活死人归来” 中 加入了一种特殊的大脑口味。

In these and many subsequent films, no sorcerer controls the zombies;

在这些以及随后的许多电影中， 没有巫师控制僵尸；

they’re the monsters.

他们是怪物。

And in many iterations, later fueled by 2002′s “28 Days Later,”

在许多迭代中，后来在 2002 年的“28 天后”的推动下，

zombification became a contagious phenomenon.

僵尸化成为一种 具有传染性的现象。

For decades now, artists around the world have used zombies

几十年来，世界各地的 艺术家都用僵尸

to shine a light on the social ills and anxieties of their moment—

来揭示他们当下的社会 有着的弊病和焦虑——

from consumer culture to the global lack of disaster preparedness.

从消费文化到全球缺乏灾难准备。

But, in effect, American pop culture also initially erased the zombies origins—

但实际上，美国流行文化最初 也抹去了僵尸的起源——

cannibalizing its original significance

蚕食了它原本的意义，

and transforming the victim into the monster.

把受害者变成了怪物。