El Día de los Muertos: The Day of the Dead, is a central event in the life of the Mexican people, and a vitally important component of Mexican folk culture. “It is a family reunion in which the dead are the guests of honor and are welcomed with their favorite foods, carefully chosen gifts, and ritual paraphernalia such as candles and incense. Some of the objects show tenderness, some, a sense of perspective about life and death, and some, a frank sense of humor.” Calaveras (literally, skulls) are ubiquitous. “The word takes on multiple meanings: rhymed, humorous pseudo epitaphs; skeletons made of different materials ranging from lead to plastic; skeletons depicted on various surfaces; graphic cartoons or plastic scenes with skeleton characters; a (small) monetary contribution requested by children.” Days of the Dead are celebrated in most of Mexico at least on 1 or 2 November but at any time from 18 October until 30 November, depending on the traditions of the local community. Hence the plural in Garcíagodoy’s title.
Mexican novelist Carlos Fuentes says of Garcíagodoy’s exhaustive and most intelligent analysis of this festival of the dead: “Her book fills in the verbal need to complement the visual art supplied by the gravures of Posada and the films of Eisenstein. She has understood the central truth: in Mexico, death and life are not separated. Death is a part of life. All is life.”
Chapter 1, “The dead as guests of honor”, stresses that días de muertos are holidays during which the dead dear to the celebrants are remembered, and discusses the many, highly colourful ways in which this is done. The ofrenda (everything offered on the altar) and elaborate ritual presentation are crucial elements of solemn celebration. In Chapter 2, “Reading días de muertos”, Garcíagodoy critically reviews semiotic practices, and the multiplicity of interpretations relating to the festival. Chapter 3, “Días de muertos and national identity”, is of salient importance. Here the author explores Mexican national consciousness and its diverse manifestations. As elsewhere throughout her book she is not afraid to switch from third person to first person, from incisive, dispassionate scholarship to vibrant, intensely personal consideration of her own responses, opinions and feelings. Of her visits to día de muertos celebrations she earlier writes: “To some extent, such excursions complete us as nationally identified beings.… At least momentarily and partially, the visits heal fragmentation by class, education, and ethnicity.” Syncretism characterises Mexican popular religion, evolved primarily from a pre‐Hispanic constellation of practices and preserving popular cultural traditions from Spanish Catholicism. Hence the very wide range of symbols evident in this festival, so typical of “las clases populares”, which the Mexican government has supported and promoted since the mid‐1920s.
In Chapter 4, “Two manifestations of días de muertos”, Garcíagodoy contrasts the folk cultural version found in Cuetzalán, Puebla, in 1991, with the idiosyncratic celebrations observed in Mexico City, in 1990 and 1993 but also during her life there. The highlight of this chapter is a brilliant exposition (with original illustrations) of the impact José Guadalupe Posada has had on the iconography of the popular fiesta.
Chapters 5 to 10 comprise stimulating and immaculately scholarly discussions (spiced always with humour and personal insights) of pre‐Hispanic and Peninsular commemorations of the dead; attitudes to death in Spain and Europe; contrasts with American observance of Hallowe’en; contemporary attitudes toward death; readings of calaveras; and outlines of a sociology, anthropology, politics, and poetics of días de muertos. Garcíagodoy movingly concludes with her “conversion experience” in 1994, when for the first time in her life she set an ofrenda, to honour her childhood nana, her grandmother, and her great aunt. “It was a transforming experience. From the time I began to contemplate it, I felt a closeness with the three women that brought back the love that binds me to them and that intensified, along with my sorrow at their absence, into what felt like a burning in my consciousness.” Garcíagodoy harbours a fantasy “… that people, especially those who wield little power in their society, will discover new aspects of their generosity and tenderness through setting offerings for their dead. I imagine them glowing in the pleasure of renewed connection with relations and companions. I imagine them spreading their goodwill in all of their contacts. Strength and magnanimity are generated by the practice of giving freely, thoughtfully, and lovingly.”
Four valuable appendices (pp. 283‐304) present literary calaveras; two Mexican stories and a Spanish poem; notes on Posada’s engravings; and a selection of Náhuatl poems. Vernacular texts are given accurate English translations. The Glossary (pp. 277‐82) covers the Mexican terms used in the text, together (blessedly) with a few of the more testing sociological and linguistic terms, such as alterity, liminality, and semiotics. Works Consulted (pp. 321‐28) is a notably useful, relevant selection of books, articles, and video tapes. The index (pp. 329‐33) is adequate for personal names, but far from sufficient in its coverage of vernacular terms or of topics. A work as rich in ideas and as wide‐ranging as Garcíagodoy’s near‐definitive study deserves much more thorough indexing.
Lavishly illustrated with 96 monochrome photographs (all but one taken by Garcíagodoy herself), reproductions of Posada’s engravings, and a fascinating 16‐page colour insert, Digging the Days of the Dead is assuredly indispensable for scholars interested in Mexican culture and religion. Lay readers will find a new vision of life and death revealed and made intelligible and entertaining. It is warmly recommended to all academic reference libraries, as a major academic study of a little known folk culture blessed with bright colours, striking symbols, and a pervading spirituality of universal significance.
