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history (transferred from Halloween
The holiday is more commonly called "Día de los Muertos" outside Mexico. Whereas in Spain and most of Latin America the public holiday and similar traditions are typically held on All Saints' Day (Todos los Santos), the Mexican government under Cardenas switched the festivity to All Souls' Day (Fieles Difuntos) in an effort to secularize the festivity and distinguish it from the Hispanic Catholic festival.
The holiday is more commonly called "Día de los Muertos" outside Mexico. Whereas in Spain and most of Latin America the public holiday and similar traditions are typically held on All Saints' Day (Todos los Santos), the Mexican government under Cardenas switched the festivity to All Souls' Day (Fieles Difuntos) in an effort to secularize the festivity and distinguish it from the Hispanic Catholic festival.
== History ==
==Mexico==
[[File:Posada Lagartijo.jpeg|thumb|Lagartijo (Dandy) by José Guadalupe Posada.]]Mexico's counterpart to Halloween, the Day of the Dead, corresponds to the [[Catholic]] holidays of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day on Nov. 1–2. In the English speaking world, these holidays were suppressed during the Reformation. As a result, traditions associated with them have transferred to Halloween.
The skeletons, skulls and the other morbid imagery of the Day of the Dead are based on the illustrations of Mexican cartoonist José Guadalupe Posada (1851 - 1913). His style was influenced by Spanish painter Francisco Goya (1746 - 1828). Unaware of this history, modern Mexicans generally see the holiday as an aspect of their Aztec heritage.<ref name="Gonzales">Gonzales, Agustin Sanchez, "[https://relatosehistorias.mx/nuestras-historias/dia-de-muertos-tradicion-prehispanica-o-invencion-del-siglo-xx Día de muertos, ¿Tradición prehispánica o invención del siglo XX?], ''2 Relatos Históricos de México'', Nov. 2, 2007.</ref>
The celebration of the Day of the Dead has come to symbolize national unity. Even though the festival has always had materialistic elements such as the sugar paste ''afteniqué'' figures, traditionally given to children, cultural nationalists have upheld the Mexican Day of the Dead religious rituals as a contrast to the economic and materialist motives behind American Halloween traditions. These cultural nationalists insist that Halloween activities, which have entered across Mexico's northern border, profaning Day of the Dead celebration.<ref>Brandes, Stanley, "The Day of the Dead, Halloween, and the Quest for Mexican National Identity," ''Journal of American Folklore'' 1998 111(442): 359-380, [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=96430235 in QUESTIA]</ref>
[[Category: Holidays]]
[[Category: Holidays]]