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This article has been published in: Ocula 35, Zombesque. Sociosemiotics of a cultural epidemic

author: Nicolas Chiappucci (Dipartimento di Filosofia, Università di Bologna, IT )

Nazi zombies and the spectacle of killing. A semiotic analysis of the “Zombie” mode in Call of Duty: Black Ops

language: italian

abstract: The practice of slaughtering Nazi zombies in video games conceals uncommon interpretative processes to link the cultural model of the Nazi soldier to the somatic peculiarities of the zombie. What do Nazi-zombies represent and what is their place in video game culture? In which way the video game, as a medium, by rewriting the perception of the past, alters the relationship between victim and perpetrator, spectacularizing the act of killing? A semiotic analysis of the video game Call of Duty: Black ops will reveal the underlying polemical dimension of the text in its attempt to justify the player as a justified torturer within the encyclopedia, positioning itself as a powerful means of cultural renewal related to the perception of the past.

citation information: Nicolas Chiappucci, I Nazi-zombie e la spettacolarizzazione dell’atto di uccidere. Analisi semiotica della modalità “Zombie” in Call of Duty: Black Ops, "Ocula", vol.26, n.35, pp.198-212, September 2025. DOI: 10.57576/ocula2025-40

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