The dark history of zombies - Christopher M. Moreman

譯者: Camila Lin 審譯者: Amanda Zhu

Animated corpses appear in stories all over the world

在世界各地的故事中， 都有會動的屍體，

throughout recorded history.

和歷史一樣淵遠流長。

But zombies have a distinct lineage—

但殭屍有自己的傳承：

one that traces back to Equatorial and Central Africa.

故事要從非洲鄰近赤道地區 及中非說起。

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

第一個線索，就在殭屍這名字裡面。

Its exact etymological origins are unknown,

正確的詞源已不可考，

but there are several candidates.

但有數種可能。

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

例如，加彭共和國的米茲博人， 用「ndzumbi」指稱屍體。

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

剛果語中的「nzambi」 則用以描述至高無上者，

an ancestor with superhuman abilities, or another deity.

像是擁有超人能力的祖先， 或是其他神明。

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

而在安哥拉和剛果的幾種語言中，

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

「zumbi」的意思是 「被靈魂附身的某物」，

or someone returned from the dead.

或是「從死亡歸來之人」。

There are also similarities in certain cultural beliefs.

許多特定文化的信仰也有相似之處。

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

例如，在剛果的傳統中， 人們相信如果某人去世，

their spirit can be housed in a physical object

他的靈魂可以寄宿在物體上，

which might bring protection and good luck.

這個物體可能帶來保護或好運。

Similar beliefs about what might happen to someone’s soul

在其他許多非洲地區，

after death are held in various parts of Africa.

也都能發現相似的亡魂歸處信仰。

Between 1517 and 1804,

在 1517 年和 1804 年之間，

France and Spain enslaved hundreds of thousands of African people,

數十萬非洲人被法、西兩國抓為奴隸，

taking them to the Caribbean island

被帶至加勒比海，

that now contains Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

包含現今的海地和多明尼加共和國。

There, the religious beliefs of enslaved African people

在那裡，這些被奴役的非洲人的信仰，

mixed with the Catholic traditions of colonial authorities

和殖民政府的天主教傳統混合，

and a religion known as “vodou” developed.

創造出名為「巫毒」的宗教。

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

根據某些巫毒信仰， 我們可以抓捕、儲存人的靈魂，

becoming a body-less “zombi.”

讓它們成為沒有身體的「殭屍」。

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

相對地，如果在死後屍體沒有 獲得迅速且合宜的處置，

a sorcerer called a “bokor” can capture a corpse

稱為「波戈」的巫師就能俘虜屍體，

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

把它變成沒有靈魂、聽從指令的殭屍。

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

根據歷史紀錄， 這些殭屍被當成工人使用，

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

它們不需吃喝，不需休息， 因此會使主人更加富裕。

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

換句話說，殭屍化似乎 反映了奴役的可怕，

that many Haitian people experienced.

而這是許多海地人都曾經歷過的。

It was the worst possible fate:

這是最悲慘的命運：

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

連死亡也無法讓人從奴役中解脫。

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

殭屍被剝奪來世，永遠受人控制。

Because of this, in Haitian culture,

因此，在海地文化中，

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

殭屍常被當作 值得同情和關心的受害者。

The zombie underwent a transformation after the US occupation

直到 1915 年美國佔領海地後，

殭屍的形象才逐漸轉變。

of Haiti began in 1915—

this time, through the lens of Western pop culture.

這一次變身為西方流行文化 眼中的殭屍。

During the occupation, US citizens propagated many racist beliefs

在佔領期間，美國公民散播

許多針對海地非裔人口的歧視言論。

about Black Haitian people.

Among false accounts of devil worship and human sacrifice,

在崇拜惡魔和活人祭祀等錯誤描述中，

zombie stories captured the American imagination.

殭屍的故事讓美國人相當感興趣。

And in 1932, zombies debuted on the big screen

1932 年，殭屍初次登上大螢幕，

in a film called “White Zombie.”

在《白色殭屍》中堂堂登場。

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

故事發生在海地，男主角必須 從邪惡的巫毒大師手上救出未婚妻，

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

而這位法師也是個奴隸主， 奴役殭屍來經營糖廠。

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

值得注意的是，獲得同情的主要角色 並非被奴役的殭屍，

but the victimized white woman.

而是受害的白人女性。

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

在其後的數十年， 殭屍出現在許多美國電影中，

usually with loose references to Haitian culture,

只鬆散地與海地文化聯結，

though some veered off to involve aliens and Nazis.

有些殭屍甚至跟外星人或納粹為伍。

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

接著，在 1968 年， 極具影響力的《活死人之夜》上映，

in which a group of strangers tries to survive an onslaught

故事敘述一群陌生人試圖

在一群移動緩慢、 吃人怪物蜂擁而來中存活下來。

of slow-moving, flesh-eating monsters.

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

電影導演表示，他從沒 將自己的活死人視為殭屍，

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

是觀眾自己如此認為。

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

但從那時開始，殭屍 就被加上對血肉的永恆渴望，

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

1985 年的電影《活死人歸來》 還為他們新增了喜愛大腦的飲食口味。

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

在這些及後續推出的電影中， 已不再出現控制殭屍的巫師，

they’re the monsters.

殭屍本身就是怪物。

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

在許多老調重彈的電影中，

2002 年的《28 天毀滅倒數》帶頭 將殭屍化變成會傳染的現象。

zombification became a contagious phenomenon.

For decades now, artists around the world have used zombies

這幾十年來，世界各地的藝術家

都用殭屍的形象 凸顯所處社會的弊病與焦慮。

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

from consumer culture to the global lack of disaster preparedness.

從消費文化到全球缺乏災害準備 皆是討論議題。

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

然而，美國的流行文化 一開始便把殭屍的起源抹消了：

cannibalizing its original significance

真正的殭屍被美國殭屍蠶食殆盡，

and transforming the victim into the monster.

而受害者也成了怪物。