Barbara Robinson
Karen Howell
Celebrate Day of the Dead with Leavey Library! Oct. 25-Nov. 2, 2021
Learn more about Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos), a cultural celebration of life, death, and family originating in Mexico. Use the USC Libraries resources to explore:
- View Exhibits in Leavey Library, 1st floor elevator lobby: Día de los Muertos Around the World; José Guadalupe Posada's prints of calaveras (skulls)
- Use Online library research guide to find library collections and resources: libguides.usc.edu/dayofthedead
- Take one of our calaveras buttons, 1st floor circulation desk: a limited supply of buttons of Posada's calaveras will be released every day, Oct. 25-Nov. 2, 2021
- Make a paper marigold (Cempasúchil): by the study rooms and print stations
- Explore calaveras with online jigsaw puzzles
- NEW: 2021 scavenger hunt - Explore the unique history and cultural significance of Día de los Muertos in this scavenger hunt for a chance to win a raffle for an e-gift card
José Guadalupe Posada, the famed Mexican printmaker, is perhaps best known for La Calavera Catrina -- a nearly ubiquitous symbol of the Day of the Dead. Contact the USC Libraries Special Collections to learn more about our José Guadalupe Posada collection. Visit our library resource guide at libguides.usc.edu/dayofthedead for more information about Día de los Muertos / Day of the Dead and José Guadalupe Posada
A collaboration of USC Libraries Leavey Library, Special Collections, and Dornsife College Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures
Books and ebooks -- Day of the Dead | El Día de los Muertos
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Day of the Dead in the USA: The Migration and Transformation of a Cultural Phenomenon (e-book and print book available) by Call Number: click title to read online, or check out book at Doheny Memorial Library BOOKSTACKS GT4995.A4 M36 2009ISBN: 0813548578Publication Date: 2009-06-09Honoring relatives by tending graves, building altars, and cooking festive meals has been an honored tradition among Latin Americans for centuries. The tribute, "el Dia de los Muertos," has enjoyed renewed popularity since the 1970s when Latino activists and artists in the United States began expanding "Day of the Dead" north of the border with celebrations of performance art, Aztec danza, art exhibits, and other public expressions. Focusing on the power of ritual to serve as a communication medium, Regina M. Marchi combines a mix of ethnography, historical research, oral history, and critical cultural analysis to explore the manifold and unexpected transformations that occur when the tradition is embraced by the mainstream. A testament to the complex nature of ethnic identity, Day of the Dead in the USA provides insight into the power of ritual to create community, transmit oppositional messages, and advance educational, political, and economic goals. -
Digging the Days of the Dead: a reading of Mexico's dias de muertos by Call Number: Doheny Memorial Library BOOKSTACKS GT4995.A4 G37 1998ISBN: 0870814990Publication Date: 1998-11-01Dias de muertos -- Days of the Dead -- is celebrated in Mexico each year in late October and early November. It is a family reunion in which the dead are the guests of honor who 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. In Digging the Days of the Dead, Juanita Garciagodoy depicts various aspects of the celebration -- including Prehispanic and Spanish Catholic traces on its development as well as folk and popular culture versions -- and describes its changing place in contemporary Mexico. She dedicates two chapters to close readings of calaveras, figures and scenes of "lively" skeletons that reveal details of popular philosophy about, for instance, gender and class relations and identity politics. There is also an analysis of the struggle between the traditional holiday and Hallowe'en. Garciagodoy examines in detail differences in attitudes towards death in Mexico and the United States. In part because the living do not exclude the dead from their family circle, celebrants of Dias de muertos treat death as an intimate life companion and fear it less than their northern counterparts, who tend to view death as inimical. Lavishly illustrated with 96 black and white photographs and reproductions of Posada's engravings, Digging the Days of the Dead is indispensible for scholars interested in Mexican religion and culture. -
Encyclopedia of Latino Culture: From Calaveras to Quinceaneras (e-book) by Call Number: Click title to read online.ISBN: 9781440800986Publication Date: 2013-11-26This three-volume encyclopedia describes and explains the variety and commonalities in Latina/o culture, providing comprehensive coverage of a variety of Latina/o cultural forms-popular culture, folk culture, rites of passages, and many other forms of shared expression. * Serves as an ideal resource for research that succinctly overviews myriad topics relating to Latina/o cultural traditions that general readers and high school students will find accessible and easy to use * Places Latina/o traditions within a historical context to deepen comprehension of Latina/o culture * Provides an exploration of identity, terms, and labels as well as sidebars, "spotlight" biographies, primary documents, and suggestions for additional information -
Fiesta : days of the dead & other Mexican festivals by Call Number: Doheny Memorial Library BOOKSTACKS GT4995.A4 S29 2009ISBN: 9780714125886Publication Date: 2009Mexico has a vast range of festivals, several commemorating national events but mostly religious or spiritual in inspiration. After the Spanish Conquest of 1521, Roman Catholic teachings fused with the beliefs of native civilizations, and even today the popular arts and crafts draw upon the Church as a rich source of imagery. Fiestas are often lavish and extremely costly. With extensive preparations, they commemorate local saints days and religious holidays such as Christmas, Carnival and Holy Week. Many festivals are dominated by masked dances, and the Devil, Death, angels and the Deadly Sins still do battle at fiesta time in countless village squares. During the Days of the Dead (All Saints and All Souls days, 1st and 2nd November), the deceased are thought to visit friends and relatives on earth. Families welcome the returning souls with flowers, incense, candles and feasting. On 12th December, Mexicans everywhere honour Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico and an important symbol of national identity. Drawing on her extensive travels in Mexico and the collections she has helped create in the British Museum, Chloe Sayer provides a living context to show what makes these festivities so attractive and also uniquely Mexican. -
Skulls to the Living, Bread to the Dead : the day of the dead in Mexico and beyond by Call Number: Doheny Memorial Library BOOKSTACKS GT4995.A4 B73 2006 and Doheny Memorial Library POLYMATHIC GT4995.A4B73 2006ISBN: 1405152478Publication Date: 2007-01-08Each October, as the Day of the Dead draws near, Mexican markets overflow with decorated breads, fanciful paper cutouts, and whimsical toy skulls and skeletons. To honor deceased relatives, Mexicans decorate graves and erect home altars. Drawing on a rich array of historical and ethnographic evidence, this volume reveals the origin and changing character of this celebrated holiday. It explores the emergence of the Day of the Dead as a symbol of Mexican and Mexican-American national identity. Skulls to the Living, Bread to the Dead poses a serious challenge to the widespread stereotype of the morbid Mexican, unafraid of death, and obsessed with dying. In fact, the Day of the Dead, as shown here, is a powerful affirmation of life and creativity. Beautifully illustrated, this book is essential for anyone interested in Mexican culture, art, and folklore, as well as contemporary globalization and identity formation. -
Viva Posada! : a salute to the great printmaker of the Mexican revolution by Call Number: Doheny Memorial Library BOOKSTACKS NE546.P6 A4 2002ISBN: 0882862618Publication Date: 2002-01-01Because of the high quality and the quantity of his art, Jose Guadalupe Posada is the one Mexican printmaker who has acquired posthumous and international fame. Posada was at his peak at the turn of the 20th century, during the closing years of the Diaz dictatorship. He has long been recognized as one of the personifications of the ensuing Mexican Revolution, which he did not live to se e completed. He illustrated many broadsides of revolutionary ballads, printed on cheap paper and sold for centavos in the streets. [from the Introduction by Carlos Cortez] Published on the 150th anniversary of Posada's birth (1852-2002), this book features 121 of the finest works by the great popular engraver and relief etcher who inspired not only the Mexican muralists but also the international Surrealist movement as well as poster artists and radical cartoonists from all over the world. Also included here are excerpts from classic texts on the artist by Jean Charlot, Jose Clemente Orozco, Frida Kahlo, Andre Breton and others, as well as statements by poets and artists of our own time - Dennis Brutus, Rikki Ducornet, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Franklin Rosemont, Joseph Jablonski, Ted Joans, Casandra Stark Mele, and many more - all published here for the first time. -
Wings of Resistance: the Giant Kites of Guatemala by Call Number: Grand Depository BOOKSTACKS TL759.4.G9 O76 2013ISBN: 9780615551548Publication Date: 2013-05-12Every year in the highlands of Guatemala, the town of Sumpango celebrates Day of the Dead by flying kites. The kites are massive, the largest measuring 45 feet in diameter. Smaller kites, close 20 feet in height, are flown in a death-defying race down the side of a mountain. From a distance, the kites appear luminous and blissful, but the radiant colors of the kites mask an ominous subtext. On closer inspection, the images on the sails depict people in agony and torment: mutilated bodies, mass burials, kidnappings, and rivers of blood. In graphic illustration, the kites allude to the dark and painful history of Guatemala's 30-year civil war. Originally centered on remembering the dead, the kite festival has become a way for the indigenous community to heal itself from the trauma of the war. Wings of Resistance examines the politics and art of the giant kites, placing this Guatemalan tradition in the context of international kite cultures. The contributors include Alison Fujino, Christopher Ornelas, Jose Sainz, Scott Skinner, and Victorino Tejaxun. -
ISBN: 841511866X
Databases -- full-text scholarly articles
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Proquest Prisma Database(in English, Spanish, Portuguese) For US Hispanic, Latin America and Caribbean studies.
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The Companion to Latin American StudiesCovering all the possible topics, from colonial cultures and identity to US Latino culture and issues of race, gender and sexuality, this book situates Latin America in its historical, linguistic and cultural context.
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CREDO Reference searchBackground information to start your research
Images
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ARTstorSearch for "day of the dead", then filter results by geography and/or type of artwork
Videos and Streaming Media
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Academic Video Online Premium (AVON)Academic Video Online (AVON) is a multidisciplinary collection of videos that touches on the curriculum needs of virtually every department allowing students and researchers alike to analyze unique and valuable content from over 500 producers and distributors around the world. This resource is offered by Alexander Street Press, a Proquest Company.
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Kanopy Streaming ServiceKanopy is a streaming video service that provides access to videos on the following topics: Film & Popular; Education (k-12); Global Studies & Languages; Health; Media & Communication; and Social Sciences.
In Popular Movies
Coco | Official Website | Disney Movies
Articles about Coco in Variety
Meet Marcela Davison Aviles: The Latina Behind Pixar’s Smash Hit ‘Coco’, HipLatina, December 11, 2017
James Bond inspires Dia de los Muertos parade in Mexico City", PBS News Hour, October 30, 2016
Animated "Book of Life" Celebrates Día de los Muertos, Heard on Morning Edition, October 14, 2014
The Book of Life (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) via USC Libraries - Naxos Music Library
Do Your Own Research: Helpful Search Terms to Get Started
Take the Virtual Library Orientation to learn how to search for resources in the USC Libraries:
Here are some search terms to get you started in your research:
All Soul’s Day, or Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos (celebrated from Oct. 31-Nov. 2)
Calaveras (skeletons/skulls; and reference to Posada’s Day of the Dead broadsides)
Jose Guadalupe Posada (Notable Mexican graphic artist/printmaker of Calaveras broadsides)
Pan de Muerto (bread for the Day of the Dead)
Papel picado (decorative paper cutouts)
See more terms: https://www.tripsavvy.com/day-of-the-dead-vocabulary-1588706
View Posada's Calaveras
Original prints in the Boeckmann Center's Jose Guadalupe Posada Collection: Inquire at the Special Collection Reference Desk, Doheny Library, 2nd floor. https://archives.usc.edu/repositories/3/resources/513
On the Web: Jose Guadalupe Posada Collection, Harry Ransom Center, Univ. of Texas, Austin.
https://hrc.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15878coll44#nav_top
Library of Congress: calaveras arroyo - https://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=calaveras%20arroyo&loclr=blogflt
Day of the Dead Events
Día de los Muertos | Hollywood Forever
Day of the Dead on Olvera Street
Día de los Muertos | Self Help Graphics & Arts
dia de los muertos los angeles
Past Events
Video Montage - Día de los Muertos, USC Leavey Library, October 31-November 1, 2018
El Día de los Muertos, Leavey Library, USC Libraries, Oct. 30 and 31, 2019, 1-4 p.m., Leavey Reflection Pool
DIA DE LOS MUERTOS AT USC 2019 - Dia de Los Muertos programming happening at USC, compiled by La CASA
Día De Los Muertos Festival, USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, Price Latino Student Association, Nov. 1, 2019, 5-7pm, RGL Courtyard