Jeong, Heeyeon. “Why New York and Zombies?―Colson Whitehead’s Zone One as a Critical Engagement of National Narratives.” Studies in English Language & Literature 49.3 (2023): 81-101. This paper argues that Colson Whitehead’s Postapocalyptic zombie fiction Zone One (2011) critically responds to prevailing national narratives in early twenty-first-century America. Set in a post-disaster Manhattan overrun by plagues and zombies, the fiction portrays a city in need to rebuilding. ‘Stragglers,’ a unique kind of zombie, underscores an America that remains fundamentally unchanged post-disaster, blurring the line between these creatures and the survivors. Whitehead’s Zone One directly engages with engages two predominant American narratives from the 2010s. The first addresses America’s reconstruction narrative, shaped heavily by the Bush administration’s emphasis on the ‘homeland.’ The second examines the post-racial discourse that became prominent during Obama’s presidency. In Zone One, New York stands as a metaphor for America, while zombies symbolize the marginalized African-Americans. In concluding, Whitehead’s fiction offers a twofold critique: it challenges the Bush administration’s handling of the post-9/11 and American exceptionalism, and it explores the optimistic views on race during the Obama era. (Pusan National University)

# Colson Whitehead # Zone One # New York # National Narrative # Afro-pessimism

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