Unraveling Resident Evil

Resident Evil is a multidimensional as well as multimedia universe: Various books, graphic novels, games and movies (the fifth one came out in 2012) all contribute to this enormous universe. The new essays written for this volume focus on this particular zombie manifestation and its significance in popular culture. The essayists come from very different fields, so it was possible to cover a wide range and discuss numerous issues regarding this universe. Among them are game theory, the idea of silence as well as memory, the connection to iconic stories such as Alice in Wonderland, posthumanism and much more. A lot of ground is covered that will facilitate further discussions not only among Resident Evil interested persons but also among other zombie universes and zombies in general. Most of these essays focus on the female figure Alice, a character revered by many as a feminist warrior.

Nadine Farghaly has a Ph.D. in American studies from the University of Salzburg. She lives in Siegsdorf, Germany.

Edited by Nadine Farghaly

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 248
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliographies, index
Copyright Date: 2014
pISBN: 978-0-7864-7291-8
eISBN: 978-1-4766-1440-3
Imprint: McFarland
Series: Contributions to Zombie Studies

Acknowledgments vi
Introduction: Unraveling the Resident Evil Universe 1
From Necromancy to the Necrotrophic: Resident Evil’s Influence on the Zombie Origin Shift from Supernatural to Science (Tanya Carinae Pell Jones) 7
Survival and System in Resident Evil (2002): Remembering, Repeating and ­Working-Through (Daniel Müller) 19
Why They Keep Coming Back: The Allure of Incongruity (Adam M. Crowley) 34
Opening Doors: ­Art-Horror and Agency (Stephen Cadwell) 45
Survival Horror, Metaculture and the Fluidity of Video Game Genres (Broc Holmquest) 62
The Strong, Silent Type: Alice’s Use of Rhetorical Silence as Feminist Strategy (Suzan E. Aiken) 80
“My name is Alice and I remember everything!” Surviving Sexual Abuse in the Resident Evil Films (James Stone) 99
The Woman in the Red Dress: Sexuality, Femmes Fatales, the Gaze and Ada Wong (Jenny Platz) 117
Chris Redfield and the Curious Case of Wesker’s Sunglasses (Nicolas J. Lalone) 135
Through the ­Looking-Glass: Interrogating the “Alice-ness” of Alice (Hannah Priest) 150
Thank You for Making Me Human Again: Alice and the Teaching of Scientific Ethics (Kristine Larsen) 167
Zombies, Cyborgs and Wheelchairs: The Question of Normalcy Within Diseased and Disabled Bodies (JL Schatz) 186
“I barely feel human anymore”: Project Alice and the Posthuman in the Films (Margo Collins) 201
“Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast”: Living Memory and Undead History (Simon Bacon) 216
About the Contributors 235
Index 237