Embodying Contagion

Sandra Becker is a PhD candidate in American Studies at the University of Groningen. Megen de Bruin-Molé is Lecturer in Digital Media Practice at the University of Southampton. Sara Polak is Assistant Professor in American Studies at Leiden University.

• Notes on ContributorsPrefaceEmbodying the Fantasies and Realities of ContagionPart I: Epidemic Fantasies in RealityChapter 1: The Krokodil Drug Menace, Cross-Genre Body Horror, and the Zombie ApocalypseChapter 2: Preparedness 101: Zombie Pandemic and the Ebola Scare - How the CDC's Use of Zombie Pop Culture Helped Fan a Nationalist Outbreak NarrativeChapter 3: The Zika Virus, Ebola Contagion Narratives, and U.S. Obsessions with Securitizing Neglected Infectious DiseasesChapter 4: An Affectionate Epidemic: How Disability Goes Viral on Social MediaChapter 5: 'Fatties Cause Global Warming': The Strange Entanglement of Obesity and Climate ChangePart II: Epidemic Realities in FantasyChapter 6: 'Time is of the Essence, Doctor': Twenty-First Century (Post-)Apocalyptic Fiction, White Fatherhood, and Anti-Intellectual Tendencies in FX's The StrainChapter 7: Killable Hordes, Chronic Others, and 'Mindful' Consumers: Rehabilitating the Zombie in Twenty-First-Century Popular CultureChapter 8: Networks, Desire, and Risk Management in Gay Contagion FictionChapter 9: This Long Disease, My Life:' AIDS Activism and Contagious Bodies in Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart and The Destiny of MeChapter 10: The Epidemic of History: Contagion of the Past in the Era of the Never-Ending Present'Contagion Contagion': Viral Metaphors, Lockdown and Suffering Economies in the COVID-19 PandemicBibliography