Death and the idea of Mexico

Description:

"Death and the Idea of Mexico is the first social, cultural, and political history of death in a nation that has made death its tutelary sign. Examining the history of death and of the death sign from sixteenth-century holocaust to contemporary Mexican-American identity politics, anthropologist Claudio Lomnitz's innovative study marks a turning point in understanding Mexico's rich and unique use of death imagery. Unlike contemporary Europeans and Americans, whose denial of death permeates their cultures, the Mexican people display and cultivate a jovial familiarity with death. This intimacy with death has become the cornerstone of Mexico's national identity." "Based on a stunning range of sources - from missionary testimonies to newspaper cartoons, from masterpieces of artistic vanguards to accounts of public executions and political assassinations - Death and the Idea of Mexico moves beyond the limited methodology of traditional historiographies of death to probe the depths of a people and a country whose fearless acquaintance with death shapes the very terms of its social compact."--Jacket.

subjects: Aspectos sociales,  Cultura popular,  Death,  Death in art,  Death in literature,  Death in popular culture,  Historia,  History,  Muerte,  Muerte en el arte,  Muerte en la literatura,  Politics and government,  Política y gobierno,  Social aspects of Death,  Social life and customs,  Vida social y costumbres,  Death, social aspects,  Mexico, history,  Mexico, politics and government,  Mexico, social life and customs,  Social aspects

Places: Mexico,  México