Beyond The Sugar Skull — What We Can Really Learn From The Day Of The Dead

SARA COUGHLIN
NOVEMBER 1, 2016, 5:20 PM

It feels like a year doesn't go by without a misguided celebrity donning a Día de los Muertos-inspired look for Halloween. Without fail, these costumes are met with an outcry from social media and members of the Latin American community, calling them out for cultural appropriation and insensitivity to the true meaning of the holiday. These accusations are completely on point (Reminder: The identities of others are not costumes), but now it seems all conversation about Día de los Muertos or Day of the Dead is centered around this outrage cycle — which in the end really doesn't do justice to the true meaning of the holiday itself.

So, instead, let's actually take a closer look at the history, traditions, and modern-day significance of Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.

Davíd Currasco, the Neil L. Rudenstine Professor of the Study of Latin America in the Harvard Divinity School, tells Refinery29 that the Day of the Dead is "one of the ways Mexicans affirm their rich and complex history of mixing Spanish, Catholic, Indigenous, and contemporary symbols and family life." Throughout history, death has played a role Mexican culture, from the Mesoamerican traditions of preparing offerings to ancestors to Roman Catholic celebrations of All Souls' Day. As the holiday has been adopted by Central and South American countries, the variety of influences on its celebrations have widened even more.

We can see this unique melding of beliefs and symbols most clearly in the altars people build for the holiday. Regina Marchi, PhD, associate professor of Journalism and Media Studies at Rutgers University and author of Day of the Dead in the USA, explains that they may feature flowers, food offerings, incense, icons of Catholic saints, rosary beads, and photos of the deceased. It's more about what is being observed than how — rather than assigning the Day of the Dead's celebrations to any one faith, those who observe it can take many different routes toward honoring their dead.

http://www.refinery29.com/2016/11/128326/day-of-the-dead-what-is-dia-de-los-muertos