MCWP50 University of Southern California Day of the Dead Analysis this is my essay, please help me to modify the grammar, and do not need to modify the con

MCWP50 University of Southern California Day of the Dead Analysis this is my essay, please help me to modify the grammar, and do not need to modify the content, thank you, if you have any question let me know. Wenjing Dong
Michael N. Witte
MCWP 50
12/05/2019
Day of the Dead: A unique hybrid culture
A movie called “coco” was released in 2017. This film tells the story of a 12-yearold boy who loves music and accidentally travels to the world of the undead. In the world
of the undead, he seeks the grandfather of the late musician, and return to the real world
under grandfather’s help. This movie inspired by the Mexican Day of the Dead, let us
experience the optimism and celebration of Mexicans for death, and experience this
special festival. The Day of the Dead is a cultural symbol of Mexico because it is a
Central American cultural heritage of the hybrid historical configuration. Day of the
Dead originates from ancient Mexican and Aztec rituals. Spanish conquest brought
Christian culture to South America, as the most important branch of Christianity,
Catholicism invaded Mexico, not only in religion, but also in political and cultural
aspects. Two different cultures collide and affect Mexicans. The celebration of “All
Saints’ Day” and “All Souls’ Day” were the most important ceremonies of American
Indians and Catholics, in order to commemorate the dead, Mexican aborigines have
incorporated their traditional culture into these two festivals. The Day of the Dead
became a unique hybrid of these two festivals.
In Mexican culture, death is seen as an important and natural part of the life cycle.
Mexicans more than anyone else have a special relationship with death, and death has
entered all personal life and work of Mexicans. Mexicans attach great importance to
death. They don’t think that death is sad. In order to mourn the dead and pray for them,
Mexicans will celebrate them on a special day which is Day of the dead. Mexicans
generally believe that this culture is mainly inherited from the ancient Indians, especially
the Maya or Aztec people and the entire construction of Mexican family traditions
reflects a mixture of Catholic and ancient Mexican/Aztec cultural practices. Mexicans
attach great importance to the Day of the Dead, and the Day of the Dead is an occasion
for celebrating and feasting. They mourned the dead children and babies on November 1
and mourned the dead adults on November 2. In the book “The Skeleton at the Feast: The
Day of the Dead in Mexico” by Elizabeth Carmichael, shows the colorful celebrations of
the Day of the Dead in Mexico and the United States through interviews of different
characters (p74-144). An interviewer named Froylan Martinez Cuenca, Huaquechula said
children have been told of this tradition since childhood. In the “Citizenship Knowledge”
textbook for grade 4 elementary school students in Mexico, “Dead Day” is listed as one
of most important tradition in Mexico. (p89-97). In Day of the Dead, they dance and sing,
they paved the way with Aztec marigolds, allowing the undead to follow the fragrant
path. They put their favorite food and drinks on the altar as gifts, mourn the dead with
these things. The article gives a lot of pictures to show these. In the pictures, shows that
Mexicans display various paper-cuts, dolls, and tableware at home, all of which have
elements of the Day of the Dead. These things are distributed in Mexican families,
workplaces, roads, and so on. These are enough to prove the importance of the Day of the
Dead in the Mexican culture.
Mexican and American writers often use the “special relationship with death” to
explain the status and popularity of the Day of the Dead in Mexico. According to the
journal “Mexico’s Special Relationship with Day of the Dead” by Regina M. Marchi, he
says “Mexicans are ‘caress’ death, ‘sleep’ with it, ‘celebrate’ it, and consider it their
‘most steadfast love’” (p21–33). He said that death has entered all personal life and work
of Mexicans. Mexicans have different opinions about death. According to the Mexicans,
there are two types of deaths. One is physical death, but this is not real death. They think
that a person was forgotten after death, that is the ultimate death. This is also the point
expressed in the movie “coco”. They think everyone will enter another world after death.
As long as the dead person not be forgotten, he will live more freely in another world,
and can returning to the real world in a specific holiday each year and meeting the family
which is the Day of the Dead. However, if no one remembers you, then he will disappear
into another world, and this is the true death. They are not afraid of death, do not deny
death, and even have an attitude of awe and love for death. Therefore, they combine
serious history with humorous modern culture in a unique form. Let people’s fear of death
slowly decrease during the celebration. Their relationship with death is intimate.
As the representative culture of Mexico, the Day of the Dead is originated from
ancient Indians, especially the Aztec civilization. The ancient Indians believed that death
was part of life, and they were willing to give up their lives to sacrifice gods. At the
beginning of the 16th century, the Aztec Empire reached its peak under the leadership of
Emperor Moctezuma, and the Aztec civilization affected the people of this land. During
the Aztec period, there were rituals of sacrificing deities every month, and they were
sacrificed with living people. They opened the chest of a living person, took out the still
beating heart, and dedicated it to the gods. They also crossed the wooden frame with the
head of a living people and were piled with skulls on both sides. They thought it was a
sacred symbol. Skeleton is now the most common element in the Day of the Dead, and it
is derived from the Aztec civilization. During the Day of the Dead, Mexicans play music
in the cemetery, write some “skull poems” to make fun of each other, or paint the makeup
of a skull on their faces, and they take it as a glory. This shows the optimistic character of
Mexican nation and the humorous attitude towards death. This is the Indian custom and
Indian culture that existed before the Spanish colonial era, and this is how the Aztecs
celebrated. The journal “Ancient Mexican Superstitions” by Zelia Nuttall, modern
people’s general impression of the Aztecs is that the Aztec race is a terrible race and has
become extinct, but this is a wrong concept (p265–281). While their approach is very
cruel, can also as an expression of their reverence for the gods and death. I think the
Aztec worship of life is very profound and comprehensive. Their attitude is also a
worship of death. A civilization that denies death, in the end that the life will be denied
also. The Aztec attitude towards death and Aztec ritual are the most primitive elements of
the Day of the Dead.
The Day of the Dead is considered as a very unique and symbolic Mesoamerican
legacy, international relation is the main reasons. In the article “The Skeleton at the Feast:
The Day of the Dead in Mexico” by Elizabeth Carmichael, he argues that spanish
conquest has a very important influence on Mexican culture and religion (p36-45).
Spanish conquest brings Christian culture to South America, many Aborigines are forced
to abandon their original beliefs and convert to “the only true religion” which is Catholic.
And in the article “The History of Religion and The Study of Religion in Mexico” by
Yolotl González Torres, he discusses the transformation, integration, and the influence of
Catholicism in Mexico, ranged from political and social aspects (p38–48).
At the
beginning of the 16th century, Spain began to conquer the Aztec empire, which was one
of the important events of the Spanish colonial period. In 1517, an inspection team led by
Juan de Grijalva entered the Aztec empire, and they confirmed that this was a land ruled
by a strong leader. Immediately afterwards, Spain sent its first army and began trading
with the people here under Hernán Cortés’ orders. However, Hernán Cortés’ ambitions
were more than just trading activities. In 1521 he came to Tenochtitlán, where he built a
palace. Tenochtitlán was the center of Aztec power at the time. Aztecs began to fight the
invaders, but they were unable to expel these invaders in the face of powerful Spanish
colonists. Finally, in August of the same year, Cortés occupied the city and imprisoned
Aztec leaders. (Thomas J. Brinkerhoff) Following the three hundreds year colonial
period, the territory of New Spain continued to expand under the control of its leaders.
The new territories include much of Central America, and now parts of the southern and
western parts of the United States. In addition to establishing economic and military
bases here, they also control local residents’ acceptance of Roman Catholic culture. hey
did not allow the existence of other religions, forcing local residents to abandon their
original beliefs. The invaders told the local residents that only the Lord can bring them
redemption and bring them into heaven. Catholicism is the only and true religion.
Spanish conquest brought Christian culture to South America, as the most important
branch of Christianity, Catholicism invaded Mexico, not only in religion, but also in
political and cultural aspects. Catholicism has dominated education and controlled
people’s social lives and thoughts during the 16th century. In the early 19th century, the
local middle class began to yearn for independence, and they were no longer willing to
continue to share their wealth and rights with Spain. After more than ten years of war, in
1821, the first independent government was established. After more than thirty years of
political turmoil and a period of reform education, Benito Juarez was elected president in
1861. He helped to establish the law after the reform and has become part of the 1857
Constitution. Under his rule, the power of the Roman Catholic Church was also reduced,
and the wealth belonging to the church was collected. Fewer and fewer people have
questioned the importance of establishing an independent state after three colonial
periods, and the 1917 Constitution was finally enacted in 1917. The minds of Mexicans
have gradually been influenced by political views, and in addition to the establishment of
a new constitution, they have also restored Indian public land. The political power of
Roman catholic Church gradually changing after the establishment of new Constitution in
1917 and social reformation during the 20th centuries. Because of the strong invasion of
Catholicism, its influence Mexico everywhere. Since its inception, Catholic culture has
affected all religious groups in Mexico. The Catholic Church has invaded Mexico very
strongly. Became the only permitted church in the early days of the Republic of Mexico,
has always been involved in political affairs and things unrelated to the church.
Catholic culture affects the people of Mexico, and their attitude towards death also
affects the people of Mexico. Christian are not afraid of death, their attitude is full of
hope. Catholicism believes that life is eternal existence, and death is another beginning of
life. As long as you believe in Jesus, you will surely get salvation and enter a heaven of
light and happiness. In the article “Attitudes toward Death in Greco-Roman and Early
Christian Cultures” by Jeremiah Mutie, he analyzes their attitude toward death by
investigating the final rituals they performed at the time of death. After people die, the
priest fills his body with oil, signifying the gift of God and eliminating all sins during his
lifetime. After complicated rituals, relatives and friends will pray before the undead.
(p89–115) Catholicism invaded Mexico in all aspects of politics, culture, religion, etc.
Mexico’s culture changed during this intense invasion process, and of course it also
included the attitude of Mexicans to death. Different attitudes towards death from Aztecs,
and in the changing religious environment, Christian culture does not differ in its attitude
towards death based on its political and economic status. The invasion of Christian
culture means that the two attitudes will begin to merge, I think these two attitudes to
merge is the beginning of the formation of a new culture in Mexico. In Aztec civilization,
there is no fear of death, no denial of death, and Christian culture is full of hope for death.
They retained their awe and affirmation of death. Abandoning the brutal methods of
Aztec civilization, they expressed their attitude towards death in a more peaceful way.
The celebration of “All Saints’ Day” and “All Souls’ Day” were the most important
ceremonies of American Indians and Catholics. In the article “Syncretic Background of
Todos Santos: The Spanish-Catholic Component” by Todos Santos, in the fortieth
century, Catholics determined the date of the celebration (p38–52). Catholics bid farewell
to undead and celebrate death at both festivals, they will recite the deceased in the
evening class on November 1st, and due to the influence of this culture, they will set
November 2nd as All Saints’ Day. The church helps Christians pray for the souls of their
loved ones and hopes they will enter heaven. After the invasion of Catholic culture, in
order to commemorate the dead, Mexican aborigines have incorporated their original
traditional culture into these two festivals. The Christian invasion has changed the culture
of Mexico in all aspects, plus the original Aztec civilization, which is a unique fusion of
Mexico’s unique fusion culture. As a product of culture, Day of the Dead also became a
unique hybrid of these two festivals. This day also became a symbol of the integration of
Catholic culture and ancient Mexican / Aztec culture. Today’s Day of the Dead has
abandoned the cruel form of Aztec rituals, retaining some elements, such as skulls and
crosses, and also inherited their awe-inspiring attitude towards death. In Catholic culture,
the happy and hope for death have been also brought to today’s Day of the Dead.
Developed to today, the Day of the Dead celebration has become more and more grand,
and the 2003 Day of the Dead is a formal list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of
Humanity. Faced with today’s Day of the Dead parade and traditional festivals that are
becoming more and more commercialized, most Mexicans have expressed their support
for this, not only inheriting it but also enriching it.
The Day of the Dead is a hybrid historical configuration. He is unique. He expresses
the unique views of Mexicans on death, and their death is colored. Death doesn’t need
silence, fear or tears. For them, death is a creation that shows the highest meaning of life.
If death is meaningless, so is life. In this day, Mexicans celebrate the completion of the
life cycle with joy. Death is both the end of life and the beginning of a new life. They
greet the reunion of the living and the dead in an annual celebration. The annual Day of
the Dead is a fusion and continuation of Aztec and Catholic cultures and ideas. People
sacrifice the undead, but there is no sorrow, in order to celebrate the festival with the
dead relatives. Such a festival and celebration combining different cultures is becoming
more and more important in the lives of Mexican people. For the passionate Mexicans,
this day’s carnival seems to be a force that can dissolve everything, including time. This
gathering festival was the reason they interrupted the time process, and time seemed to
stop at this moment. As a result, the social order, industry differences, principles,
guidelines, mechanisms and other conventional orders also disappeared. Today, it has
also become a symbol of Mexican culture.

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