Digging the Days of the Dead: A Reading of Mexico's Días de MuertosIn Digging the Days of the Dead, Juanita Garciagodoy depicts various aspects of the celebration - including Prehispanic and Spanish Catholic traces on its development as well as folk and popular culture versions - and describes its changing place in contemporary Mexico. Garciagodoy examines in detail differences in attitudes toward death in Mexico and the United States. In part because the living do not exclude the dead from their family circle, celebrants of Dias de muertos treat death as an intimate life companion and fear it less than their northern counterparts, who tend to view death as inimical. |
Contents
Reading Días de muertos | 47 |
Días de muertos and National Identity | 67 |
Two Manifestations of Días de muertos | 79 |
Copyright | |
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according altar artists beliefs body bread calaveras called Carmichael and Sayer Catholic celebrants chapter Christian communities considered contemporary continue culture dead death Días de muertos died dominant earth elements enjoy existence experience expression fact fear feel female fiesta Figure flowers friends give given graves groups Hallowe'en human humor identity images important Indigenous interesting less living look means Mexican Mexico City nature November observed offering ofrenda original painted pan de muerto perhaps person photograph Plate political popular Posada practices pre-Hispanic present reader refer relations relatives remember represented ritual seems seen sense serve shows signs skeleton skulls social society sometimes souls Spanish spirits sugar tierra tion traditions United usually vida woman women