Posthumanism, Human Behaviors and the Concept of the Other in The Walking Dead

Abstract

This thesis investigates Posthumanism in The Walking Dead (AMC 2010-2022) television series through discussing the concept of the Other and the human and non-human relations in the show. The paper used scenes and images of episodes from the first two seasons to analyze the zombie walkers’ relevance as the posthuman Other, portray the adjustments its human characters have made to the world after the fall of the Anthropocene and to the walkers themselves, showcasing their human exceptionalism on one hand, and restraining it on the other. The aim is to show the ways the behavioral differences between humans and non-humans are simultaneously highlighted and blurred into each other throughout the series, in relation to its posthuman narrative.