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Day Of The Dead Research Paper

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The United States and Mexico have their own traditions when it comes to celebrating the afterlife and the dead. Hispanics celebrate the “Day of the Dead” and Americans celebrate “Halloween” with costumes, decorations, and sweets. Ghostly skeleton and fairy princess, costumes are a tremendous part for preparing for these holidays. However they are not similar, they do help each holiday be distinct from each other. For example, the Day of the Dead, dressing up as a skeleton is a huge part of their history. “Scholars have noted the indigenous cultures of Mexico honor the Lady of the Dead, the modern La Catrina, which many recognize today as a skeleton woman wearing a fancy hat,” (DeNinno). The costumes also help give the holiday vivid visuals …show more content…

Day of the dead is also celebrated with decorating graves with flowers and foods to welcome back their dead family and friends. Or they would set up a small alter in their homes with pictures of relatives who passed away, sweets, candles, and floral decorations. The bright colors symbolized the young souls that roamed around the cities and towns on Day of the Dead. Although Halloween does use skeletons as décor, pumpkins took the spotlight. Pumpkins are the physical symbol of Halloween. They are carved, baked, smashed, and painted. “So, prepare your pumpkins and your carving knife, because we couldn’t really imagine Halloween without pumpkins, could we? It’s not about making the best ones, it’s about enjoying a century-old tradition; and keeping Jack o’lantern away” (Mihai). But decorations also span from ghostly ghouls, fragile skeletons, and crawling insects, decorating around your home is a modern traditions that seems to keep going, from the darkest, spookiest colors to dangling spider webs. The colors are chosen because they are representing the colors of death, and after all it’s a day of celebrating the

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In Chapter 5 of Day in the Dead in the USA: The Migration and Transformation of a Cultural Phenomenon, Regina Marchi discusses the political themes surrounding various Day of the Dead celebrations in America. She claims that Day of the Dead events offer opportunities for Latinos to voice their opinions about current issues, giving them a sense of cultural independence. Furthermore, Marchi argues that the practices and rituals of these Latinos living in the U.S. during the Day of the Dead holiday brings them closer together in the midst of political adversity (Marchi, 73). Throughout this chapter, Marchi talks about different Day of the Dead events that have occurred in the U.S. within the last century and how their presence has shone light

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Dia de los Muertos and Halloween can often be confused because they are celebrated within very close dates, but in reality they have distinct characteristics. Dia de los Muertos was originally introduced in Mexico with the Aztec Festival of the Dead, but the traditions have been tweaked over the years. Likewise, Halloween originated in Ireland, beginning with the Celtic Festival called “Samhain”. Now, the popular holiday, Day of the Dead, is celebrated from October 31st through November 2nd by visiting the graves of dead friends or family members. People who participate in Dia de los Muertos leave food, candles, incense, a poem, or a picture at the altar to honor the past lives of people they love.

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Aside from being depicted in Mesoamerican artwork, the concept of death in Mexico also tells the story of the imposition of Catholicism on Mesoamerican civilizations during colonial Mexico. Artwork during this time period illustrates images of death, such as a deceased nun, a masked death, devil and devil dancers, and ancient decorated skulls (Carmichael and Slayer 1992, 36). According to Stanley Brandes, scholars often have a difficult time minimizing the role of the Zapotec natives while simultaneously emphasizing on the European origins of the Day of the Dead holiday. Much of the pre-Columbian antecedents steams from the iconography of ancient civilizations living throughout Mesoamerica. This includes its huge amounts of skulls and skeletons during the modern Day of the Dead rituals as well as the variations of the meaning of the skeletal depictions as it differs from region to region.

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To many people skulls represent death and negativity however, for Mexicans that celebrate Day of the Dead sugar skulls represent death in a positive manner. In Mexico it is believed that death is not the final stage in life but rather a step forward onto a higher level of consciousness. This is similar to the beliefs of the Aztecs. The Aztec skulls were a positive symbol, not only of death but also of rebirth. The symbolism of sugar skulls is rooted in the decoration around the eyes.

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