Memento Mortuorum: Day of the Dead in Mexico
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A Livestream Class with Dr. Andrew Chesnut
at in Shadow
Join Dr. Andrew Chesnut for a compelling deep dive into Mexico’s Día de los Muertos—its history, symbolism, and global transformation from sacred rite to cultural phenomenon.
- From marigold carpets in village camposantos to sugar-skull selfies on Instagram, Mexico’s Día de los Muertos has vaulted from local rite to global icon.
- Beneath the Pixar haze, Indigenous ancestor veneration stitches itself to Catholic eschatology, staging an annual catechism on death, hope, and nationhood.
- Dr. Chesnut unpacks this syncretism based on two decades of research in Mexico, tracking the soul’s pilgrimage from kitchen altar to graveside vigil.
- Along the way we chart the political economy of pan de muerto, papel picado, and artisan catrinas, asking who profits when mourning turns marketplace.
- The presentation dialogues with José Guadalupe Posada’s calavera satire and today’s pop-art runways, showing how La Catrina morphed into feminist icon and soft-power export.
- The workshop spotlights the meteoric rise of Santa Muerte imagery on altars once reserved for crucifixes and marigolds, signaling a democratized afterlife imaginary.
- Multimedia vignettes—midnight prayers, brass-band laments, candlelit processions—immerse attendees, while survey data reveal Gen Z Mexicans now rank Día de los Muertos above Christmas for spiritual meaning.
- We probe how neoliberal tourism commodifies remembrance yet bankrolls parish fiestas and communal projects, proving tradition is never a zero-sum game.
- Ultimately, the feast’s unapologetic embrace of mortality offers a prophetic critique of a world addicted to Botox and forgetf
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