Chicana & Chicano Studies (CHIC): Focus: Dia de los Muertos

Albro, Ward S., author, & Denis Defibaugh, photographer. Day of the Dead : Dia de los Muertos. Fort Worth, TX: TCU Press, 2007. 4^th Floor Oversize GT4995.A4 D44 2007.

Describes the rituals and customs practiced on Dia de los Muertos in Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico including photographs of decorated altars, people's homes, food, and gifts that express the sorrow and joy of the festival.

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Andrade, Mary J. Day of the Dead in Mexico. Yucatan. San Jose, CA: La Oferta Review Inc., 2003. 5^th Floor South GT4995.A4 A553 2003.

In English and Spanish. Part of a series: A través de los ojos del alma = Through the eyes of the soul. Each book covers Dia de los Muertos in a different state of Mexico.

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Artes de Mexico, ed. Day of the Dead: the History of a Celebration: Dia de los Muertos. New York: Cenunnos, 2024. Special Collections ZRC GT4995.A4 D39 2024.

 

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Brandes, Stanley H. Skulls to the Living, Bread to the Dead: The Day of the Dead in Mexcio and Beyond. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2006. 5^th Floor South GT4995.A4 B73 2006 [Also have the e-book]

Each November 2, on the Day of the Dead Mexicans honor their deceased relatives by decorating graves and erecting home altars. It challenges the widespread stereotype of the morbid Mexican, obsessed with dying.

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Cisneros, Sandra. A House of My Own: Stories from My Life. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2015. Writing Center 1^st Floor North PS3553.I78 Z46 2015.

See especially, pp. 64-69, “Vivan los Muertos”, pp. 163-169, “An Ofrenda for My Father on the Day of the Dead”

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Desai, Anita. The Zigzag Way. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2004. 3^rd Floor North PR9499.3.D465 Z644 2004.

Using the backdrop of Dia de los Muertos, a South Asian-British writer, tells the transcultural story of a young American historian with Welsh roots searching to uncover the mysteries of his family’s past in an old mining town where his father had been born at the beginning of the Mexican Revolution. Is this a case of cultural appropriation?

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Garciagodoy, Juanita. Digging the Days of the Dead: A Reading of Mexico’s Dias de los Muertos. Niwot, CO: University Press of Colorado, 1998. 5^th Floor South GT4995.A4 G37 1998.

Juanita Garciagodoy traces thePrehispanic and Spanish Catholic roots on its development as well as folk and popular culture versions. Garciagodoy also examines in detail differences in attitudes toward death in Mexico and the United States.

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Green, Judith Strupp. Laughing Souls: The Days of the Dead in Oaxaca, Mexico. San Diego, CA: San Diego Museum of Man, 1969. 5^th Floor South GT4995.A4 G73.

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Hyams, Gina, & Masako Takahashi. Day of the Dead. San Francisco, CA Chronicle Books, 2001. Special Collections ZRC Z1033.T689 H93 2001.

Book in a box with a skeleton angel. Is this an example of cultural appropriation? Author is not ethnically Mexican American but has only lived in Mexico as an expat.

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Lopez, Josefina. Food for the Dead; La Pinta: Two One-act Plays. Woodstock, IL: Dramatic Publishing, 1996. Special Collections ZRC PS3562.O6725 F66 1996.

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Macazaga Ramírez de Arellano, Carlos, & César Macazaga Ordoño. Las Calaveras Vivientes de Posada. Mexico: Editorial Cosmos. 5^th Floor South NE546.P6 C34 1977.

 

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Marchi, Regina M. Day of the Dead in the USA the Migration and Transformation of a Cultural Phenomenon. 2nd edition. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2022. Special Collections ZRC GT4995.A4 M36 2022. [Also an e-book]

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Marchi, Regina M. Day of the Dead in the USA the Migration and Transformation of a Cultural Phenomena. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2009. Fifth Floor South GT4995.A4 M36 2009 & Special Collections ZRC GT4995.A4 M36 2009

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Miliotes, Diane Helen. Jose Guadalupe Posada and the Mexican Broadside: Jose Guadalupe Posada y la Hoja Volante Mexicana. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago; New Haven, CT: Distributed by Yale University Press. 5^th Floor South NE544.3.M55 2006.

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Nutini, Hugo G. Todos Santos in Rural Tlaxcala: A Syncretic, Expressive, and Symbolic Analysis of the Culty of the Dead. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1988. 5^th Floor South F1221.N3 N895 1988.

 

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Paz, Octavio. The Labyrinth of Solitude; The Other Mexico; Return to the Labyrinth of Solitude; Mexico and the United States: The Philanthropic Ogre. New York: Grove Press, 1985. 5^th Floor South F1210.P318 1985.

“Paz has written one of the most enduring and powerful works ever created on Mexico and its people, character, and culture. …[T]his collection contains his most famous work, The Labyrinth of Solitude, a beautifully written and deeply felt discourse on Mexico's quest for identity that gives us an unequalled look at the country hidden behind ‘the mask’.” See essay on “The Day of the Dead”. Library has several different editions of this book in both English and Spanish.

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Posada, Jose Guadalupe. Jose Guadalupe Posada: My Mexico. Honolulu, HI: The Galley, 2001. Special Collections ZRC NE546.P6 A4 2001.

 

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Shapard, Robert, James Thomas, & Ray Gonzalez, eds. Sudden Fiction Latino: Short-short Stories from the United States and Latin America. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2010. 3^rd Floor North PS508.H57 S844 2010.

See “Day of the Dead”, a short story by Daniel Chacón.

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Tamez, Margo. Naked Wanting. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. 3^rd Floor North PS508.H57 S844 2010.

See poem entitled: “Day of the Dead.”

 

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Thorne, Russ. Day of the Dead: Art, Inspiration & Counter Culture. London: Flame Tree Publishing, 2015. Special Collections ZRC in process.

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Self-Help Graphic and Art, Inc., Linda Vallejo, & Betty Ann Brown, curators. Dia de los Muertos: A Cultural Legacy, Past, Present, & Future. Los Angeles, CA: Self Help Graphics & Art, 2017. 5^th Floor South N8217.D5 D53 2017.

Catalog of an exhibition [held September 17, 2017-February 24, 2018] at Self Help Graphics, Los Angeles. "Día de los Muertos: A Cultural Legacy, Past, Present and Future is part of Pacific Standard Time...."

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Troncoso, Sergio. The Last Tortilla & Other Stories. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1999. 3^rd Floor North PS3570.R5876 L37 1999.

See short story entitled: “Day of the Dead.”

Permalinks to Academic Video Online appear to stop working after a few days. I recommend just searching the title of the item in OneSearch or go directly to the Streaming video service.

The Day of the Dead. Calavera Productions. San Antonio CineFest, 1999. New York: Filmakers Library, 1999. Streaming on Academic Video Online (Alexander Street). [Also a ZRC VHS]

'The Mexican character, shaped by the fusion of Christianity and indigenous religion, is perhaps epitomized in the celebration of the Day of the Dead. This fanciful film takes us to the village of Patzcuaro, where, like villages all over Mexico, on October 31 [date is not correct, it is a three day period, with the actual Day of the Dead on November 1^st], people return home from everywhere to celebrate their ancestors and communicate with their long dead loved ones. This impressionistic pilgrimage takes us to the cemetery where graves are decorated and turned into works of art, with flowers, personal objects, food, offerings and thousands upon thousands of candles. For a twenty-four hour period, we follow Death on a tongue-in-cheek guided tour through the soul of a people.'

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Connecting Traditions: Rendezvous with the Dead (Mexico). Mostras, Alexandre, director, Drogue, Marie, producer. Paris: ZED, 2013. Streaming on Academic Video Online (Alexander Street).

“All around the world, mankind perpetuates traditions, passing down skills and a way of life to future generations. Whether this involves rituals or mastery of techniques, handing down customs is a way of reinforcing the identity and singularity of a group of individuals in keeping with their lifestyle and their environment. …. In a first-person travelogue, he recounts the simple tale of a community and the importance of inter-generational transmission that plays a direct role in the survival of its culture. A photographer by training, the director captures the stunning beauty of the landscapes and offers us an almost dreamlike journey, in which he artfully illustrates the great fragility of our cultural heritage.” Originally in Spanish and French.

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Culinary Journeys. Season 2, episode 9. Olvera, Enrique. Atlanta, GA: CNN Newsource Sales, 2016. Steaming on Academic Video Online (Alexander Street).

Episode covers food during Dia de Los Muertos in Mexico City.

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Dia de Los Muertos. Yockey, James Burton, director, Jarrell, Todd and Jennifer Maytorena Taylor, producers. Performances by Los Lobos, Ozomatli, & Flor de Tolache. Arlington, VA: Public Broadcasting Service, 2022. Streaming on Academic Video Online (Alexander Street).

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Flor de Muertos. Vinik, Danny, director. Pottstown, PA: MVD Entertainment Group, 2012. Streaming on Academic Video Online (Alexander Street).

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La Ofrenda: The Days of the Dead. Portillo, Lourdes, producer, director & screenwriter, Muñoz, Susana, producer & director. United States: Lourdes Portillo, 1988. Streaming on Kanopy Streaming Video. [Also a ZRC VHS]

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Unseen Cinema. 7: Viva la Dance, Episode 23, “Sergei Eisenstein” Mexican Footage, 1930-1932. Eisenstein, Sirgei, filmmaker. Cineric, presenter, Mexican Picture Trust. United States: Filmmakers Showcase, 1932. Streaming on Academic Video Online (Alexander Street).

The filmmaker and crew are Russian and the handling has been done by Americans. Treatment of subject is awkward and full of old stereotypes about the people of Mexico. The second film excerpt is about Day of the Dead. Film is silent. See notes for more information.

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Unseen Cinema. 8: The Mysteries, Death Day. Eisenstein, Sergei, director; Cineric, presenter, Sol Lesser Productions. United States: Filmmakers Showcase, 1934. Streaming on Academic Video Online (Alexander Street).

The filmmaker and crew are Russian and the handing has been done by Americans. Treatment of subject is awkward and full of old stereotypes about the people of Mexico. Film shares some footage from Unseen Cinema. 7. This film was edited by Sol Lesser, not Sergei Eisenstein.

Ancona, George. Pablo Remembers: The Fiesta of the Day of the Dead. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, 1993. 4^th Floor North Juvenile F1210.A75 1993.
During the three-day celebration of the Days of the Dead, a young Mexican boy and his family make elaborate preparations to honor the spirits of the dead.

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Ancona, George. Barrio: Jose’s Neighborhood. San Diego: Harcourt Brace, 1998. 4^th Floor North Juvenile F869.S39 M53 1998.

Presents life in a barrio in San Francisco, describing the school, recreation, holidays, and family life of an eight-year-old boy who lives there. Includes pages describing preparations for Dia de los Muertos.

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Freschet, Gina. Beto and the Bone Dance. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2001. 4^th Floor North Juvenile PZ7.F889685 Be 2001.
Beto searches all day for something all his own to put on his grandmother's grave for the Day of the Dead. While the author/illustrator did live for a while in Mexico, is this a case of cultural appropriation?

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Gonzalez, Xelena, author, & Adriana M. Garcia, illustrator. Remembering. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2023. Special Collections ZRC PS3607.O5263 R46 2023.

"On Día de los Muertos, a family prepares an ofrenda for their favorite furry family member, remembering all the ways that their beloved pet brought love and comfort to their lives" Based on a poem the author shared with the illustrator who had lost a pet.

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Montes, Marisa, author, & Yuyi Morales, illustrator. Los Gatos Black on Halloween. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2006. 4^th Floor North Juvenile PZ8.3.M775 Gat 2006 & Special Collections ZRC [in process].

Uses Dia de los Muertos symbolism and motifs. Is this a different kind of cultural appropriation conflating Halloween and Dia de los Muertos?

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San Vicente, Luis, author, John William Byrd and Robert Byrd, translators. The Festival of Bones = El Festival de las Calaveras: The Little-Bitty Book for the Day of the Dead. El Paso, TX: Cinco Puntos Press, 2002. Special Collections GT4995.A4 S2513 2002

Describes el Día de los Muertos, a holiday celebrated in Mexico from October 31 to November 2. Originally written in Spanish.

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Sommers, Joan, author & book artist, and Valerie Shull, translator. The Dancing Skeletons Tunnel Book = Gran Baile de Calaveras: Un Libro Tunel. Chicago, IL: Tunnel Vision Books, 2006. Special Collections ZRC NE546.P6 S8 2006.

"The book is a concertina-like folding form, composed of five separate scenes, each on a different panel. When viewed through the window of the book’s front cover, the panels are compiled together to create a cohesive narrative scene. Skeletons are dressed in vivid hues reminiscent of the colors used in Day of the Dead celebrations across Mexico.” Based on the drawings of Jose Guadalupe Posada, a Mexican printmaker and political cartoonist. Is this an example of cultural appropriation?

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Tonatiuh, Duncan, author & illustrator. Funny Bones: Posada and his Day of the Dead Calaveras. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2015. Fourth Floor North Juvenile NE546.P T65 2015, Donoghue Children’s Literature Center NE546.P6 T65 2015 & Special Collections NE546.P6 T65 2015

"Funny Bones tells the story of how the amusing calaveras--skeletons performing various everyday or festive activities--came to be. They are the creation of Mexican artist José Guadalupe (Lupe) Posada (1852-1913). In a country that was not known for freedom of speech, he first drew political cartoons, much to the amusement of the local population but not the politicians. He continued to draw cartoons throughout much of his life, but he is best known today for his calavera drawings. They have become synonymous with Mexico's Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) festival."

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Weill, Cynthia, author, & Zarate, Jesus Conseco, illustrator. Mi Familia Calaca = My Skeleton Family. El Paso, TX: Cinco Puntos Press, 2013. 4^th Floor North Juvenile NK8555.5.M64 Z372 2013 & Special Collections ZRC NK8555.5.M64 Z372 2013.

"Welcome to the Family! It's just like yours: father, mother, sister, brother, abuelita, gato. Well, but, there's something just a little bit different about this family. Maybe it's those clothes they wear ... just a little bit fashion backward. And the colors! So vibrant and ... lively. Maybe that's what it is. They are just so full of life. Familia-life from a Day of the Dead perspective!"

Loteria de los Muertos = Lottery of the Dead. Guadalajara, Mexico: Padi Color, 2019. Special Collections GT4995.A4 L67 2019.

Mexican Loteria game like Bingo with themes from el Dia de los Muertos.

 

Calavera Productions. El Dia la Noche y los Muertos. New York: Filmakers Library distributor, 1998. Special Collections ZRC GT4995.A4 D524 1998. [Also available in Streaming video.]

Filmed in the village of Patzcuaro, this is a dramatization of a pilgrimage on October 31 [date is incorrect, this three day festival lasts until November 2], All Souls' Day in Mexico, when people celebrate their ancestors and communicate with long dead loved ones. The religious holy day is marked by celebrations and special events, making the relationship with death one of friendship rather than fear.

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Eisenstein, Sergie, filmmaker & director, & Oleg Kovalov, editor. Mexican Fantasy. Chatsworth, CA: Image Entertainment, 1998. Special Collections ZRC DVD F1215.S47 2001.

Oleg Kovalov’s attempt to put together Einsenstein’s unmade film, Mexican Fantasy. Contains Dia de Los Muertos footage seen in the Streaming videos listed below. Recommendation: Treat this as a silent film as the sound is distracting. Inspite of the Filmmaker and crew being Russian, this film is full of old stereotypes about the people and cultures of Mexico.

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Lomas Garza, Carmen, & Elizabeth Sher. Homenaje a Tenochtitlan: An Installation for Day of the Dead. Berkeley, CA: I.V. Studios. Special Collections ZRC GT4995.A4 H65 1996.

Interviewed in 1992 as she creates, Chicana artist Carmen Lomas Garza installs a large ofrenda (altar) dedicated to the Aztecs of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City) and a smaller ofrenda to "La Malinche." She explains the significance of the Dia de los Muertos celebration and the symbolism of the special items she created as offerings to her ancestors and mentors. The exhibition was installed in the Smith College Museum of Art, Oct. 2-Nov. 22, 1992.

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Molina, Adrian, film director, screenwriter, & lyricist. Walt Disney Productions. Pixar. Buena Vista Home Entertainment. Coco. Burbank, CA: Disney, 2018. Special Collections ZRC DVD PN1997.2.C62 2018

Despite his family's generations-old ban on music, Miguel dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz. Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead following a mysterious chain of events. Along the way, he meets charming trickster Hector, and together, they set off on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel's family history. Is this an example of cultural appropriation? Disney tried to copyright Dia de los Muertos.

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Portillo, Lourdes, producer, director & screenwriter, Muñoz, Susana, producer & director. La Ofrenda: The Days of the Dead. United States: Lourdes Portillo, 1988. Special Collections ZRC VHS GR455.O44 1989 [also in streaming video]

Includes study guide.

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Thompson, Jan, producer & director. Food for the Ancestors. Food for Thought Productions. Alexandria, VA: PBS Home Video, 2006. Originally produced as a television documentary in 1999. Special Collections DVD ZRC GT4995.A4F66 2006

 

Aldama, Frederick Luis, ed. Latinx Cine in the Twenty-first Century. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 2019.

See chapters: 19: The best Mexican is a (Day of the) Dead Mexican: Representing Mexicanness in U.S. animated films by Manuel M. Martin-Rodriguez; and, 20: (Re)animating the dead: Memory, music, and divine justice in Coco by John D. "Rio" Riofrio

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Brandes, Stanley H. Skulls to the Living, Bread to the Dead: The Day of the Dead in Mexico and Beyond. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2006. [Also have the print book]

Each November 2, on the Day of the Dead Mexicans honor their deceased relatives by decorating graves and erecting home altars. This volume reveals the origin and changing character of this celebrated holiday. It challenges the widespread stereotype of the morbid Mexican, obsessed with dying.

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Buist, Erica. This Party’s Dead: Grief, Joy and Spilled Rum at the World’s Death Festivals. London, Unbound, 2021.

See chapter 3: “Let’s go out and Vivir un Poco.” Is this an example of cultural appropriation?

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Cisneros, Sandra. A House of My Own: Stories from My Life. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2015.

See especially, pp. 64-69, “Vivan los Muertos”, pp. 163-169, “An Ofrenda for My Father on the Day of the Dead”, and pp. 243-249, “An Ofrenda for My Mother.”

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Davis, Robert Con. Mestizo come Home!: Making and Claiming Mexican American Identity. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2017.

See Chapter: Remapping Community: Cinco de Mayo, Lowrider Car Culture, and the Day of the Dead.

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Haley, Shawn D., and Curt Fukuda. The Day of the Dead: When Two Worlds Meet in Oaxaca. New York: Berghahn, 2014.

 

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Marchi, Regina M. Day of the Dead in the USA the Migration and Transformation of a Cultural Phenomenon. 2nd edition. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2022. [Also held in the ZRC]

 

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Marchi, Regina M. Day of the Dead in the USA the Migration and Transformation of a Cultural Phenomena. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2009. [also held in the ZRC]

 

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Matovina, Timothy, and Gary Riebe-Estrella, eds. Horizons of the Sacred: Mexican Tradition in U.S. Catholicism. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2018.

See chapter, “Dias de los Muertos: Public Ritual, Community Renewal, and Popular Religion in Los Angeles,” by Lara Medina and Gilberto R. Cadena

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Nutini, Hugo G. Todos Santos in Rural Tlaxcala: A Syncretic, Expressive, and Symbolic Analysis of the Cult of the Dead. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1988.

 

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Reck, Gregory G. In the Shadow of Tlaloc: Life in a Mexican Village. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, 1986.

See Chapter 3: The Day of the Dead

Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Days of the Dead. New York: Universe Pub, n.d. Special Collections GT4995.A4 D39

This calendar is part of the Archive of Popular Culture.

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Rigoberto, Gonzalez. The Book of Ruin. New York: Four Way Books, 2019. Special Collections PS3557.O4695 A6 2019

Part of the Latinx Science Fiction Collection. See poem entitled: “El Coyote and the Furies on the Day of the Dead.

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Sayer, Chloë. Mexico, the Day of the Dead: An Anthology. London: Redstone Press, 1990. Special Collections P-1112

Part of the Press Books Collection.