Mexico\u27s Cult of Death: An Analysis of the Days of the Dead and its Literary and Artistic Counterparts

This thesis investigates the Mexican celebration known as Days of the Dead and some of the literary and artistic efforts based on it. Research was conducted during a four-month study abroad program in Queretaro, Mexico, during the fall of 2006 and during the spring semester of 2007 through the completion of an independent research course under the direction of Dr. Melvin Arrington. An investigation of Aztec and pre- Hispanic ideologies was conducted, and an analysis of the celebration’s transformation since the Spanish Conquest through modem times was undertaken, including a consideration of the resultant syncretism between pre-Hispanic religion and Catholicism. The two major works of Juan Rulfo are the focus of the literary investigation, with three short stories chosen from his collection El llano en llamas and his novel Pedro Paramo. The photographic perspective of Rulfo is explored in the third chapter, which considers different forms of the visual arts in Mexico and their interpretations of death, including architecture, mural painting, and engravings by artists Diego Rivera and Jose Guadalupe Posada. Selections from the writings of author Octavio Paz are also utilized to support the presented hypotheses. In conclusion, several pre-Hispanic religious beliefs are still the paramount basis for the majority of customs surrounding death practiced throughout Mexico in modem times; the syncretism caused by the Spanish Conquest did little to affect the celebration beyond its duration and specific date. Rulfo, Posada, and Rivera, all native Mexicans, offer particularly interesting analyses of death through different artistic modes of expression, and the depth and proliferation of work among these artists (and many others) illustrate the strange emotional mixture of nonchalance and reverence that the Mexican people manifest towards death