Search

ARCHIVES
CONTACT US
WORLD NEWS

UA students spread meaning of Dia de los Muertos

The UA Chicano-Hispano Student Affairs and Resource Center held an open discussion yesterday about the festive celebrations and misconceptions of Dia de los Muertos, and how it has become commercialized throughout the centuries.

"It is important that people have an awareness of other traditions (but) what I see is that these traditions that are sacred become commercialized," said Ana Perches, senior lecturer in the Spanish and Portuguese department.

"It becomes like a pseudo-interest in other cultures, so something like the Day of the Dead only makes sense when you are dealing with your relatives who have died," she said.

The center hosted the discussion with guest speakers Alex Nava, assistant professor of religious studies, and Macelo Matus, an electrical engineering graduate student. Both discussed the history and heritage behind Dia de los Muertos, and then left the floor open for discussion.

Dia de los Muertos, a Mexican holiday influenced by indigenous traditions, is a day of reverence for and remembrance of ancestors, Nava said. It has changed in celebration but not in context.

Matus, who is Chilean, said his family celebrates Dia de los Muertos differently than many of the other cultures.

"We don't have 'Feliz Dia de los Muertos', it's a sad day - not a happy day in any sense," he said. "When we were there my mother would speak to me and try to give me the history of the family."

Nevertheless, the tradition is dedicated to the dead.

"The point is that the celebration is the idea of reverencing the dead, and it is a part of so many cultures," Nava said.

The uniqueness of Dia de los Muertos is that it is a "tragic awareness that our mortality and death affects everyone," he said. "It's a democratic reality - death comes to everyone."

Nava said that instead of being bitter about death, like the outlook of "existential philosophers... it's a joyous celebration."

Many of the participants said they felt the celebration was widely misunderstood and has been exploited and commercialized to such a negative extent that it has become disconnected as a reverent holiday.

"In Mexico, the celebration is not one of festivities, it is a way to spiritually go to a cemetery and be there with the ones they lost," said Leona Puente, UA administrative assistant.

"It is not a Halloween party, it's a festival of colorful images," Puente said about the confusion between Halloween and Dia de los Muertos.

Since All Saints Day is the day after Halloween and All Souls Day, or Dia de los Muertos, follows All Saints Day, many people who are not familiar with the tradition believe it is a continuation of Halloween, she said.

Perches, like Puente, said she feels very strongly against the commercialization of Dia de los Muertos, and she finds many people do not realize that the tradition has been and continues to be exploited.

"You remember the dead in specific ways, like going to the cemetery and taking flowers," Perches said. "It is very different than opening Caliente (Arizona Daily Star arts section) and saying, `What are you going to do for the Day of the Dead?'"

A few people said they did not feel the tradition was being disconnected and that it was a positive move towards helping others become involved in the festivities.

"The Day of the Dead became popular and manifested in art shows and a lot of these things that are being sold in America, and they are contributing to the economy," said Diane Dittemore, curator at the Arizona State Museum.

"I work in a museum so I am very object-oriented, and I think it's good (to have the art pieces) as long as they're used in a reverent type of way," she said.

Liv Barrera, an undeclared freshman, agreed with Dittemore, saying "different traditions and different people celebrate it differently."

"I think the Anglo people are being exposed to the festive side of it," Barrera said about the growing interest in the holiday. "Mexicans, especially my family, celebrate it festively so I don't see anything wrong with that, however, we could introduce the fact that it is a mourning day, but there is nothing wrong with festive celebrating."

Though the group was somewhat divided about the exploitation of Dia de los Muertos, the majority said there needs to be an understanding of the culture and its importance to those who celebrate the holiday.

"It's okay to celebrate, but understand what it is before you begin to commercialize and sell it," Puente said.