Dia De Los Muertos Research Paper
Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead is a celebration of life rather then death throughout the Hispanic community. On November first and second, All Saints day and All Souls day, Hispanics gather to celebrate in their own customs and intrigues according to their specific cultural region. However different these regional cultures may be they all share in a similar celebration of life through remembrance. Many times these festivities are held at the grave site of their loved ones and also throughout the streets. Decorations range from skeletons, toys, elaborate costumes, paper cutouts, elaborate wreaths and crosses, flowers (commonly Marigolds), and candles. Many of these decorations are used to make altars in honor of the deceased. These
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altars are also many times decorated with pictures, food, coffee, tequila, and so on. The reasons of these altars are for the souls of the deceased to make their visit back to the home. The altars are usually set up in the home of the passed soul. When the soul returns they can enjoy all the things they did in the past life, it is sort of a welcome home. Not only is this attention given to the altars at the house, but also to the graves from which they are put to rest. The graves also vary in decoration according to local tradition; crosses, wreaths, flowers, toys for the young, streamers, and even the polishing of the grave stone. As stated above this is more of a celebration then anything. These people are celebrating the lives that the deceased had lived. During these grave visits many times there will be music, drinking, and even vendors selling their goods. Many outsiders that may witness this so called partying or celebrating may be put off by this. Many may think that this is very disrespectful in regards to the deceased. They do not understand that it is more of a celebration for the lives these people lived and not that they have died. Here in the United States we stray from death, many are scared of it and don't want anything to do with it. The dealings with death differ from every culture; however we can trace many of these celebrations back to the ancient periods. The Day of the Dead lends itself to much fascination as it crosses ancient Pre-Hispanic traditions with that of the Roman Catholic Church. It also crosses Spanish and ancient tribes that first raised the Mexican land. In regards to cultural contact, the majority of the Hispanic population living today abides by the Roman Catholic beliefs. Before the Spanish Conquistadors came to settle in Mexico, many of the local tribes of coarse had their own traditions in dealing with death. These too were very elaborate celebrations. In Mexico's ancient civilizations many times it was considered a blessing to die as an infant, or in battle, or as a human sacrifice. This pretty much ensured the deceased a free pass to the afterlife. They also gave these people proper and elaborate burials. It wasn't until the Spaniards came that they infused these ancient rituals that held true to their land and their beliefs as Catholics. When the Spaniards had first arrived and seen the ancient tribes celebrating death, they thought of coarse that this was horrible. They believed that the tribes were mocking death and had no respect. This of coarse had been their tradition for over three thousand years. As the Spaniards tried to rid these people of there horrible rituals and try to convert them to Catholicism, they realized that this would never happen, and as we see today it hasn't. The main affect the Spaniards had on this tradition was merely the date. They converted the tribes celebrations into their Roman Catholic holidays of All Saints and All Souls day, (Nov. 1, 2). Many of these tribes kept skulls as trophies of those that had passed, and they displayed them during these rituals. These skulls were also a symbol of death and rebirth. Today in the celebrations we see many skulls and skeletons called calacas. These ancient people believed that the life that they were living was merely a dream, and to die was to awaken to the real life. Keeping these ancient traditions alive is what separates every culture from the next. However, the cross between cultures has been going on for centuries. You could even say that cross culturalization is an ancient tradition among everyone. Before the Spanish came to settle Mexico many of the rural villages had their own assumptions and beliefs about their god or gods. The Aztecs for example made many human sacrifices to please their gods, asking for good crops and seasons. Today in Michuacan there remains old traditions that were not phased by the Spaniards. The local Indian tribe still holds rituals for their dead, but this only holds true to the women and children. The males celebrate more for the seasons and for their crops. The harvest has always been very important to these rural areas. Maize or corn, along with beans has always brought good fortune and faith to the people. In Mixquic, which is a small rural town that was once a farming island of the Aztec Empire, is now under Mexico City's influence. Still holding strong to many of their roots, their celebration of the dead is much like that of every other village in Mexico. The cultural spread of many of these bigger cities has come to affect many of these smaller towns. Although many hold strong to their beliefs, as did many of the ancient tribes; outside influence has defiantly shown its face. The bigger cities throughout Mexico which include Mexico City, Guadalajara, and so on have come to modernize their ways just like everywhere else in the world. Many of these cities want to take on new technology along with new ideas and ways of living. An easier faster pace of life is where everyone seems to want to be going. This of course can and does overshadow tradition. Within Mexico and its towns, this conclusion is no different. As many countries throughout the world have noticed the American way of life is breaching the borders of their homeland.
America being a powerful country, it pushes its ideas and extremely new traditions onto others. Being the dominant power, America sets the trends for other countries to follow. The theory of cultural imperialism seems to be strong in many ways when referring to the United States. It seems that through American media we are trying to catch the global market and turn everyone into American consumers. Not only consumers of our products, but also our ideas and ways of living. Referring back to the main subject at hand, which is the Dia de los Muertos, within many of the urban markets around the time of this cultural celebration, Mexicans are not finding the crosses, or wreaths, or anything like that. They are instead bombarded by the American paraphernalia dealing with Halloween. They see the sight of plastic pumpkins, witches, and rubber masks, the black and orange colors that the American market has designed for this day of monsters and …show more content…
trickery. In my opinion this is the complete opposite of what the long tradition of the Day of the Dead is supposed to be. Although falling within the same week of course. The Day of the Dead is not to produce fear or ghoulishness into the hearts of the people, although I realize that no one except small children maybe scared, but it is to celebrate with bright festivities and the joy of life and that to come. It is passing into the afterlife graciously, humbly, and without fear. It is the smothering of these major powers that puts many of the worlds beautiful traditions on the back burner. I do realize that the pride of the people around the world holds strong to many of their traditions, this includes the Mexican population, but in many instances the rituals seem clouded by outside influence. It is the realization that past traditions in my opinion will never die, and within this realization the American cultural imperialism theory doesn't work to the extent that the fat cats would want it. Another example that the reach of culture contact has and has not penetrated the celebration is that of two different sites within the Mexican borders.
There are of course the urban sites of the larger cities and towns, which are now crowded with onlookers curious of what this celebration is all about and how it is celebrated. In many of these areas the crowds of onlookers has grown so big that many academics have criticized the celebration as just another way to make a profit. Charging the tourists admission into the cemeteries, and of course all of the trinkets and souvenirs being sold by the vendors on the outskirts of the grave sites. I however think that this tradition holds strong in many ways to its roots, it is the thought of celebrating death that has brought the masses. It is the way the streets and towns are decorated, with their beautiful colors, loud music, dancing and singing, large array of costumes and skeletons. It is almost like a city wide parade, it's like Mardi Gras on Bourbon Street. I don't hold it against anyone native of the area to try and turn a buck off these tourists, that's how it's done all around the world. To criticize a ritual that happens to turn heads and to criticize the people who make a buck off of that is ridiculous. This celebration was going on long before the buzz of the
crowds. As I had stated above the arm of the cultural contact in relation to the Day of the Dead celebration has not reached all within the borders of Mexico. In the remote location of a small town by the name of Yunuen, you will not find the extent of celebration as you would within the urban areas. Although many of the rituals are the same, you will not find any tourism whatsoever. The ceremonies go on without any music or singing, the processions to the gravesites are mostly silent. They do however bring gifts and candles to the graves and pray by the sides of their loved ones. They keep to themselves and their own traditions, just as they did centuries ago. Being that the Day of the Dead celebration is more commonly for the celebration of the life the deceased had, in this smaller town the scene is much calmer and more mournful. Many of the costumes worn mostly by the children in these urban areas of Mexico not only came from the American Halloween, but even that came from the Catholic tradition for charity. I personally think that it is the parent's fault that many of their traditions are overshadowed by Halloween. Knowing that dressing up there children can take away from the reason they are celebrating anyway. Children as everyone knows are very impressionable; starting them out on the wrong traditions in the first place can obviously over time make their own traditions obsolete.
Andrade, Mary J.
1999 Through the Eyes of the Soul: Day of the Dead in Mexico: La Oferta
Charmichael, Elizabeth / Sayer, Chloe
1992 The Skeleton at the Feast: University of Texas Press
Greenleigh, John
1998 The Days of the Dead: Mexican Festival of Communion with the Departed: Pomegranate Communications
Miller, Carlos
2004 Indigenous People Wouldn't let Day of the Dead Die: Azcentral
Perton, Marvin H.
Day of the Dead: MexOnline.com http://www.azcentral.com/ent/dead/ http://www.dayofthedead.com/
http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/egg/egg1096/daydead.html
altars are also many times decorated with pictures, food, coffee, tequila, and so on. The reasons of these altars are for the souls of the deceased to make their visit back to the home. The altars are usually set up in the home of the passed soul. When the soul returns they can enjoy all the things they did in the past life, it is sort of a welcome home. Not only is this attention given to the altars at the house, but also to the graves from which they are put to rest. The graves also vary in decoration according to local tradition; crosses, wreaths, flowers, toys for the young, streamers, and even the polishing of the grave stone. As stated above this is more of a celebration then anything. These people are celebrating the lives that the deceased had lived. During these grave visits many times there will be music, drinking, and even vendors selling their goods. Many outsiders that may witness this so called partying or celebrating may be put off by this. Many may think that this is very disrespectful in regards to the deceased. They do not understand that it is more of a celebration for the lives these people lived and not that they have died. Here in the United States we stray from death, many are scared of it and don't want anything to do with it. The dealings with death differ from every culture; however we can trace many of these celebrations back to the ancient periods. The Day of the Dead lends itself to much fascination as it crosses ancient Pre-Hispanic traditions with that of the Roman Catholic Church. It also crosses Spanish and ancient tribes that first raised the Mexican land. In regards to cultural contact, the majority of the Hispanic population living today abides by the Roman Catholic beliefs. Before the Spanish Conquistadors came to settle in Mexico, many of the local tribes of coarse had their own traditions in dealing with death. These too were very elaborate celebrations. In Mexico's ancient civilizations many times it was considered a blessing to die as an infant, or in battle, or as a human sacrifice. This pretty much ensured the deceased a free pass to the afterlife. They also gave these people proper and elaborate burials. It wasn't until the Spaniards came that they infused these ancient rituals that held true to their land and their beliefs as Catholics. When the Spaniards had first arrived and seen the ancient tribes celebrating death, they thought of coarse that this was horrible. They believed that the tribes were mocking death and had no respect. This of coarse had been their tradition for over three thousand years. As the Spaniards tried to rid these people of there horrible rituals and try to convert them to Catholicism, they realized that this would never happen, and as we see today it hasn't. The main affect the Spaniards had on this tradition was merely the date. They converted the tribes celebrations into their Roman Catholic holidays of All Saints and All Souls day, (Nov. 1, 2). Many of these tribes kept skulls as trophies of those that had passed, and they displayed them during these rituals. These skulls were also a symbol of death and rebirth. Today in the celebrations we see many skulls and skeletons called calacas. These ancient people believed that the life that they were living was merely a dream, and to die was to awaken to the real life. Keeping these ancient traditions alive is what separates every culture from the next. However, the cross between cultures has been going on for centuries. You could even say that cross culturalization is an ancient tradition among everyone. Before the Spanish came to settle Mexico many of the rural villages had their own assumptions and beliefs about their god or gods. The Aztecs for example made many human sacrifices to please their gods, asking for good crops and seasons. Today in Michuacan there remains old traditions that were not phased by the Spaniards. The local Indian tribe still holds rituals for their dead, but this only holds true to the women and children. The males celebrate more for the seasons and for their crops. The harvest has always been very important to these rural areas. Maize or corn, along with beans has always brought good fortune and faith to the people. In Mixquic, which is a small rural town that was once a farming island of the Aztec Empire, is now under Mexico City's influence. Still holding strong to many of their roots, their celebration of the dead is much like that of every other village in Mexico. The cultural spread of many of these bigger cities has come to affect many of these smaller towns. Although many hold strong to their beliefs, as did many of the ancient tribes; outside influence has defiantly shown its face. The bigger cities throughout Mexico which include Mexico City, Guadalajara, and so on have come to modernize their ways just like everywhere else in the world. Many of these cities want to take on new technology along with new ideas and ways of living. An easier faster pace of life is where everyone seems to want to be going. This of course can and does overshadow tradition. Within Mexico and its towns, this conclusion is no different. As many countries throughout the world have noticed the American way of life is breaching the borders of their homeland.
America being a powerful country, it pushes its ideas and extremely new traditions onto others. Being the dominant power, America sets the trends for other countries to follow. The theory of cultural imperialism seems to be strong in many ways when referring to the United States. It seems that through American media we are trying to catch the global market and turn everyone into American consumers. Not only consumers of our products, but also our ideas and ways of living. Referring back to the main subject at hand, which is the Dia de los Muertos, within many of the urban markets around the time of this cultural celebration, Mexicans are not finding the crosses, or wreaths, or anything like that. They are instead bombarded by the American paraphernalia dealing with Halloween. They see the sight of plastic pumpkins, witches, and rubber masks, the black and orange colors that the American market has designed for this day of monsters and …show more content…
trickery. In my opinion this is the complete opposite of what the long tradition of the Day of the Dead is supposed to be. Although falling within the same week of course. The Day of the Dead is not to produce fear or ghoulishness into the hearts of the people, although I realize that no one except small children maybe scared, but it is to celebrate with bright festivities and the joy of life and that to come. It is passing into the afterlife graciously, humbly, and without fear. It is the smothering of these major powers that puts many of the worlds beautiful traditions on the back burner. I do realize that the pride of the people around the world holds strong to many of their traditions, this includes the Mexican population, but in many instances the rituals seem clouded by outside influence. It is the realization that past traditions in my opinion will never die, and within this realization the American cultural imperialism theory doesn't work to the extent that the fat cats would want it. Another example that the reach of culture contact has and has not penetrated the celebration is that of two different sites within the Mexican borders.
There are of course the urban sites of the larger cities and towns, which are now crowded with onlookers curious of what this celebration is all about and how it is celebrated. In many of these areas the crowds of onlookers has grown so big that many academics have criticized the celebration as just another way to make a profit. Charging the tourists admission into the cemeteries, and of course all of the trinkets and souvenirs being sold by the vendors on the outskirts of the grave sites. I however think that this tradition holds strong in many ways to its roots, it is the thought of celebrating death that has brought the masses. It is the way the streets and towns are decorated, with their beautiful colors, loud music, dancing and singing, large array of costumes and skeletons. It is almost like a city wide parade, it's like Mardi Gras on Bourbon Street. I don't hold it against anyone native of the area to try and turn a buck off these tourists, that's how it's done all around the world. To criticize a ritual that happens to turn heads and to criticize the people who make a buck off of that is ridiculous. This celebration was going on long before the buzz of the
crowds. As I had stated above the arm of the cultural contact in relation to the Day of the Dead celebration has not reached all within the borders of Mexico. In the remote location of a small town by the name of Yunuen, you will not find the extent of celebration as you would within the urban areas. Although many of the rituals are the same, you will not find any tourism whatsoever. The ceremonies go on without any music or singing, the processions to the gravesites are mostly silent. They do however bring gifts and candles to the graves and pray by the sides of their loved ones. They keep to themselves and their own traditions, just as they did centuries ago. Being that the Day of the Dead celebration is more commonly for the celebration of the life the deceased had, in this smaller town the scene is much calmer and more mournful. Many of the costumes worn mostly by the children in these urban areas of Mexico not only came from the American Halloween, but even that came from the Catholic tradition for charity. I personally think that it is the parent's fault that many of their traditions are overshadowed by Halloween. Knowing that dressing up there children can take away from the reason they are celebrating anyway. Children as everyone knows are very impressionable; starting them out on the wrong traditions in the first place can obviously over time make their own traditions obsolete.
Andrade, Mary J.
1999 Through the Eyes of the Soul: Day of the Dead in Mexico: La Oferta
Charmichael, Elizabeth / Sayer, Chloe
1992 The Skeleton at the Feast: University of Texas Press
Greenleigh, John
1998 The Days of the Dead: Mexican Festival of Communion with the Departed: Pomegranate Communications
Miller, Carlos
2004 Indigenous People Wouldn't let Day of the Dead Die: Azcentral
Perton, Marvin H.
Day of the Dead: MexOnline.com http://www.azcentral.com/ent/dead/ http://www.dayofthedead.com/
http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/egg/egg1096/daydead.html