Day of the Dead and cultural appropriation

With each Day of the Dead in Mexico, debates about cultural appropriation that have been changing over the years are revived.

An essential book for understanding traditions from a historical and anthropological point of view is The Invention of Tradition by Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger. These historians have explained what traditions are for in contemporary societies, but also how, contrary to what is popularly believed, traditions are in constant movement, they change over the years, they reinvent themselves and on many occasions they are invented. to maintain certain functions in a society.

The Day of the Dead is one of those traditions that fulfill all these characteristics. It brings together elements of religious syncretism, of symbolism around the altar, of meals, of rituals, of the meanings that the elements of the altar contain to the forms of bread of the dead and what each element means in relation to the cycle of life and of death. Given this, the Day of the Dead has been reinvented on countless occasions, many times, causing more than one to wrap themselves in the flag of tradition, as if traditions were immovable.

In other times, some people tore their clothes off in the face of the Halloween celebration and the perceived risk of losing the tradition of the Day of the Dead as yet another onslaught of Yankee imperialism. Apparently, this topic was left behind to give way to the debate on the cultural appropriation of the “Day of the Dead” —because the article “los” was added as a literal translation of the Day of the Dead— way in which the party is known. Day of the Dead in non-Spanish speaking countries. Some voices complain about the adoption of this day in cultures other than Mexico, in the ignorance of its origin and symbolism, and consider that this represents colonialism and cultural appropriation. It is complex to analyze the origin of the traditions by themselves, since on the one hand, the colonization argument appealed to the “invasion” of a foreign custom such as Halloween, and on the other, colonization is also appealed when a Mexican custom “invades” or is appropriated in other corners of the planet. Under this perspective, it is established that more than the celebration, these ritual practices respond to different forces that reflect the sign of the times. The adoption of the Day of the Dead in other cultures is not exempt from adding or altering elements that have nothing to do with its origin, but that make sense to people.

Few practices have been immune to the “invention of tradition”, in the sense that at least 20 years ago, a Day of the Dead parade was not organized (in part ironically promoted by a Hollywood film production a few years ago). ), nor were catrina costumes swarming in the streets, since Catrina was more the artistic product of an illustrator than a symbolic representation that they have appropriated as the official “costume” of Mexicanity on the Day of the Dead. Not more than 10 years ago, the pan de muerto did not have hazelnut paste fillings of Italian origin. All these elements are what, while some see with bad eyes, in practice, have allowed people to get involved and live the tradition.