Into the Mind of Death

Currently, I have been looking into the print source I discussed last week, Death and the Idea of Mexico, as a way of understanding Mexico's identification with death.  So far, this is the longest and most detailed work for this project I have encountered and I feel I may need to give it more than one blog post to due it justice.  I was not able to get as far as I wanted to this weekend, but I will try to complete the entry during this upcoming week.  For now, we shall begin with the first part: "Death and the Origin of the State."


Smallpox Epidemic (link to video)

From Conquest to Conversion 

 Most of us have probably heard about the effects the Spanish explorers and conquistadores had on the indigenous population.  Lomnitz would state that "the sixteenth century was a veritable holocaust for the native population." (pg 68)  Historians today still debate the actual numbers of what occurred, but most would agree that the presence of the Spanish and their actions hindered the indigenous populations almost to the point of extinction.  The two main proponents that are attributed to this widespread death are that of disease, such as smallpox, and the forced labor of the indigenous.

These details are important to the Mexican identification with death because they represent a new understanding of death not seen in the New World, particularly Mexico for this blog's purpose.  Lomnitz looks at several aspects of death from mainly from the perspectives of the Spanish, since the indigenous were not able to properly record their thoughts.  One aspect of the Spanish perspective was to understand what was the cause of the widespread death of the indigenous.  The major theory that came about was the comparison to the ten plagues of Egypt, and that this was a result of the 'sinful' lives that the indigenous possessed. (pg 71)  This was the justification for the conversion strategies by the clergy to ensure the indigenous would possess eternal salvation.

With this mindset, the missionaries sought save the indigenous through conversion to Catholicism.  Interestingly enough, Lomnitz actually discusses the ideal death within his work much like we discussed this regarding Philip II's death in the blog posts.  However, the ideal death was quite difficult to administer in New Spain since most of the indigenous were vulnerable to the effects of European diseases.  Because of this, the clergy were willing to accept less as "...the good death of the Indians of the sixteenth century emphasized dying in the faith above all else." (pg 131)  Yet, the concept of purgatory and the final judgment became key aspects of conversion for the clergy as they hoped to change their understanding of the afterlife and common practices.

From this we see the first references to Days of the Dead.  As has been discussed in earlier posts, Days of the Dead takes place on the same day as All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day in the other Christian societies.  The origins in New Spain were simply to provide offerings to the church, but "the Days of the Dead rapidly became the largest harvest of the year." (pg 114)  This phenomenon was attributed to the mindset of the indigenous that were providing these large offerings.  Duran, an observer of the indigenous, described that the indigenous were making several offerings during this time because they associated these two days with their previous holidays that made offerings to the deceased children and adults on each day respectively. (pg 117)  The clergy were originally fearful of this development, since they attributed it to pagan worshiping, but became lenient towards the indigenous regarding those days.  In fact, "Indians were...exempt from the obligation to fast and to abstain from work on the Days of the Dead." (pg 129)  This was the beginning of the holiday known today, but there is still room for development.

For my next blogs, I hope to look at how this development of death and Days of the Dead will develop throughout the next couple of centuries.  Lomnitz's work will be the main focal point for a couple of weeks due to its sheer volume, so I hope nobody minds.

Source: Lomnitz, Claudio. Death and the Idea of Mexico. New York: Zone Books, 2005.

Where I am at 

Regarding my current research, I have found a couple of books discussing the Day of the Dead that I will be reading over the next couple of weeks.  The major one I have found is entitled Death and the Idea of Mexico by Claudio Lomnitz which should give a more in depth historical analysis of the Day of the Dead.  As for this week, I decided to look at another article by Stanley Brandes entitled "Iconography and in Mexico's Day of the Dead: Origins and Meaning."  Stanley Brandes appeared to be one of the most important names when discussing Mexican culture relating to the Day of the Dead for quite some time.  Although he field of expertise is Anthropology, Brandes' insight into the historical understanding of Mexican culture as it relates to the actual individuals past and present.

Iconography and the Day of the Dead

We have already taken a look into what practices with food have helped to shape the Mexican symbolism regarding death and dying, but Brandes brings us into another issue with understanding Mexico's identification with death and dying.  This time the focus is upon how skulls and skeletons have come to be a universal symbol that represents Day of the Dead.  In fact, Brandes stated, "Probably more than any other single element, it is the prevale3nce of skulls and skeletons and caskets of all types that has made the Mexican Day of the Dead famous throughout the Western world." (Brandes 182)  This can be seen through decorate art, toys, and even the skull candies as seen below.

Brandes first seeks to address Mexico's association with skull and skeleton imagery by identifying the origins of this art.  Brandes discussed the Mesoamerican civilizations that lived around present day Mexico by examining ruins left in particular archaeological sites.  His major conclusion regarding this is that these indigenous groups did have an infatuation with death imagery, but not to any extent that is seen in contemporary Mexican culture.  For example, the Mayans focused more on gruesome qualities in their representation of death which includes "...decomposing corpses, symbolized by the black spots or blotches on the cheeks of the victims..." (Brandes 190)  Brandes does present examples where skulls were depicted, such as the Toltec capital of Tula and Chichen Itza where some of the skulls were depicted as having "...lanky limbs and prominent joints..." (Brandes 191) Yet, concludes that artist characteristics like these would have been wiped out during the Spanish conquest.

                                                      Wall of Skulls -- Chichen Itza

Since Brandes mentioned the Spanish conquest of Mesoamerica, that is where he decided to focus the next discussion on.  He demonstrates that the use of skulls and skeletons in art was very popular during the Baroque period in Spain, which occurred right around the time of the initial Spanish colonial era. (Brandes 195)  This would include a particular style around the Dance of Death which emphasized the interaction of the living and death.  This could be seen in the imagery such as the 18th Century art from New Spain that can be found on the chapel in Tlamanalco. (Brandes 196)  Yet, ultimately concludes that the Dance of Death and modern Mexican skull art based on the fact that Day of the Dead art features solely skeletons and Dance of Death includes skeletons and living people.

                                                                   Baroque Period Art

                                                       Chapel at Tlalmanalco, Mexico

The final discussion by Brandes involves the origin of humorous imagery involving skulls and skeletons common in contemporary Day of the Dead.   He traces the origins to the Mexican people after gaining independence and seeking to voice their opinion about the newly formed Mexican government.  One such way was through the first illustrated newspaper in Mexico called El Calavera, or the skull, that used political satire to express their beliefs. ( Brandes 202)  He also points to the art of Jose Guadalupe Posada who also sought to incorporate satire within his art, but he emphasized the use of animated skeletons to portray his criticism. ( Brandes 202)  With this and the remainder of the article, Brandes that the imagery of death through skulls and skeletons could be traced to the political unrest, as well as a reminder that death played a major role with the introduction of European diseases.  I hope to find more relating to this final point that Brandes about the history of death throughout this upcoming week.

Sources Cited: Brandes, Stanley. "Iconography in Mexico's Day of the Dead: Origins and Meaning." Ethnohistory 45 no. 2 (Spring 1998) http://www.jstor.org/stable/483058 (accessed: September 7, 2013)

Deadly Origins...

Over the course of two days in Mexico, a phenomenon occurs that embodies the rich cultural history of the land it inhabits.  Anyway else, November 1st and 2nd represent a period of religious zeal in celebration of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day.  In Mexico, they celebrate the Day of the Dead.

Dia De Los Muertos

This celebration has different meanings to every individual, but one ever present feature consists of the visual representation of not only culture but also a comfort with death.  For the rest of this semester, I seek to find an answer as to why Mexico possesses such a strong identification with death as it pertains to the Day of the Dead.  My initial post on the matter may be quite lengthy, but I will try throughout the semester to break my research down for the ease of understanding.

My research began with gaining a basic understanding of the topic I was after.  My first decision would be to look for a particular article from Jstor.com that related to the Day of the Dead.  The first article I found was one by Stanley Brandes entitled "Sugar, Colonialism, and Death: On the Origins of Mexico's Day of the Dead." (if the link provides you difficulty, go to Jstor and type in the title)

Sugar, Colonialism, and Death

Within this article I was able to gain a basic understanding of the Day of the Dead.  Brandes described how this celebration occurred on the same days as the Christian observances on November 1st and 2nd, but he stated that Mexico displays their own understanding of the holiday at it relates to death.  From this point, I learned some of the real understandings those that celebrate this observance really believe with regard to death.

"Life and death are inseparable and when the former lacks meaning, the latter becomes equally meaningless.  Mexican death is a mirror of Mexican life." (Brandes 273)

This idea takes an optimistic viewpoint towards death as it is just as important as life.  This is an important insight into Mexican culture, but Brandes focuses on identifying where this mindset originated: either from Mesoamerica or Europe.  Both images below represent Day of the Dead, but each demonstrate strong ties to either Europe of Mesoamerican culture.  This makes defining the origins of the Day of the Dead quite difficult.

To fully answer this question, Brandes sought to emphasize the role of food for ritual purposes.  The ofrenda, or offering, plays a key role in Day of the Dead as it is placed upon the tomb of a loved one that has passed away.  This would allow the people to interact with the spirits of their loved ones by providing specific foods they enjoyed.  This offering was used by Catholics in Spain, but a similar offering was also done in several civilizations in Mesoamerica including the Mexica (or Aztecs). 

Brandes could not be definitive with his understanding of the origins of this observance, but could agree that the Day of Dead represents a duality of European and Mesoamerican heritage.  This presents a common cultural issue in former colonies: globalization vs. localization.  Mexico seems to have taken their local understanding of death and applied it to an international observance to create something unique to  Mexican culture.

I will continue to look into the Mexican perspective on death relating to the Day of the Dead throughout the semester. 

Sources: Brandes, Stanley. "Sugar, Colonialism, and Death: On the Origins of Mexico's Day of the Dead." Comparative Studies in Society and History 39 no. 2 (Apr. 1997) http://www.jstor.org/stable/179316 (accessed September 7, 2013)