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'2 de noviembre no se olvida': Día de Muertos and Globalization in Mexico City

Claudio Lomnitz
Departments of Anthropology and History, University of Chicago

Abstract

This paper treats the Day of the Dead in relation to public life in Mexico throughout the twentieth century. Concentrating on the dead as represented in political cartoons, the discussion falls into five sections: the decline of the dead in the Public Sphere (1920s-1960s), waking the dead: repression, democracy and the slow rennaissance of the Days of the Dead in the Public Sphere (1968-1982); the decline of 'posada imagery' as political critique; the deprecation of life in Mexico's transition into 'The Crisis' (1982-1986); and 2 de noviembre no se olvida.


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