All of Us Are Dead. The Figure of the Zombie as a Metaphor for Social Vulnerability During Pandemics

In the media landscape, the figure of the zombie is widely pervasive, influencing films, television series, and various paratexts. Some epidemiological studies consider the zombie apocalypse as the quintessential epidemic, suggesting that this figure can offer important insights into contagion phenomena. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the zombie metaphor was used significantly, with research examining the correlation between zombie representations and the Coronavirus. This study employs textual analysis of the Korean TV series All of Us Are Dead (Netflix, 2022) to investigate the connection between the figure of the zombie and society’s renewed vulnerability in the face of epidemics. The analysis shows how the series reflects social vulnerabilities during epidemics and how the zombie metaphor is used to comment on contemporary risks.