Day of the Dead in the USA: The Migration and Transformation of a Cultural Phenomenon (review)

This analytical interpretation of the Day of the Dead celebration in the United States is squarely grounded in the field of communication and media studies. The author, a former journalist with a recent doctorate in communications, posits that Day of the Dead celebrations in the United States qualify as what she calls "vernacular media," which functions primarily to communicate about politics and cultural identity. As she states on the first page of the introduction, "This book is about the power of cultural ritual to serve as a medium of political communication, and about the role of cultural hybridity in reconciling feelings of social and cultural displacement, fragmentation, and negation. It is also a story of the key roles played by the mass media and commercial forces in creating, promoting, and maintaining ‘traditions'" (p. i). Although the topic is covered in one of the chapters, she is much less interested in the pre-historical background of the holiday than its present manifestations as the holiday has changed to accommodate its new mainstream American setting. She also readily points out that the holiday is not uniform throughout Latin America, as its observance varies widely from country to country and even from region to region within countries. This variety is especially apparent in the United States, where the holiday has merged in some areas with the celebration of Halloween.

The book is presented in eight chapters, framed by a separate introduction and conclusion. These chapters encompass an overview of the historical background of the Day of the Dead, descriptions of the holiday in Mexico and the United States, and the hybridization of the holiday in the United States to serve as a medium and forum for the expression of cultural identity and political views as well as educating those not previously familiar with the holiday. The concluding chapter, "The Commoditization of a Death Ritual," explores the concept that folklorists call "commodification," which is an example of the discrepancies in spelling and meaning that sometimes develop among academic disciplines as new terms are coined and added to the professional lexicon.

The introduction explains that four primary issues covered in the book are particularly "relevant to the fields of media studies, communication, cultural studies, anthropology, sociology, ethnic studies, and Latino studies." These issues are (1) ethnic identity as a "malleable social construct, based in practices of community building and shaped by political economic contexts," (2) expressions of Latinidad, or Latinness, which are "reshaping mainstream US culture," (3) how "various forms of mass media combined with unprecedented levels of transnational communication (through tourism, commerce, and immigration), have transmitted Day of the Dead to a wide public, defying historical dichotomies of local versus global, authentic versus commercial, and traditional versus modern," and (4) how "as a form of ritual communication, the celebration encourages a rethinking of traditional assumptions regarding the formulation of the public sphere, the definition of ‘media,' and the composition of political communication" (pp. 4–5).

The author argues convincingly that a hybridized Day of the Dead is the newest American holiday, which is celebrated throughout the country by many ethnic groups, not just Latinos. Without belaboring the persistent arguments regarding the relationship of Day of the Dead observances to the pre-Colombian expressions of death in Mexico, she explains how the holiday came to California in the 1970s as activist Mexican American artists turned their attentions to Mexico and Aztlán for artistic and cultural inspiration. During this same period, the government of Mexico recognized the tourism potential of the holiday and instituted widespread government support of the holiday, resulting in its widespread public celebration, as opposed to the previous focus on family celebrations of their deceased relatives. The widespread popular appeal of the early colorful altars that were created in California, primarily in Los Angeles and San Francisco, led to educational workshops...