Habla Blog

By Barbara Benjamin-Treviño

Día de los Muertos (DEE-ah day lows moo-WARE-tows)

Day of the Dead may be one of the best examples of a cross-cultural difference between Hispanic and Anglo cultures. While death is a topic often avoided here, honoring the memory of deceased relatives takes on a celebratory air during this long-held tradition.

The Day of the Dead on November 1 and 2 is commemorated throughout Mexico and by Mexican Americans in the U.S. with a flurry of activity that matches any Thanksgiving weekend. With its combination of pre-Hispanic and Roman Catholic rituals, Día de los Muertos honors departed ancestors and loved ones with candlelight vigils in cemeteries, creation of home altars, and special foods and sweets to entice the spirits of the dead to pay a special holiday visit “home.” Nobel laureate Octavio Paz observed that undaunted by death, the Mexican has no qualms about getting up close and personal with it. The concept of death is seen as natural and families renew their link with the past during this annual remembrance.

Each region has distinct customs attached to its celebration of Día de los Muertos. Customs common to most regions include cleaning the family burial plot, decorating the grave, holding gravesite reunions, and creating special sweets that are used as an offering to the dead. The tone is festive, rather than somber.

The Day of the Dead is not related to Halloween, whose origins are pagan in nature. It’s important to respect traditions by keeping them distinct, despite the tendency to meld them out of convenience. Remember when Christmas was Christmas? Now it’s Christmas-Hanukah-Kwaanza season. Those whose tradition is being subsumed may not take kindly to such blurring of the lines. What’s really behind the blending of holidays? Is it just an excuse for retailers to attract more customers? Or a way of feeling “inclusive” by tossing those outside the majority a few crumbs? A deliberate attempt to breach the wall of separation between church and state? Well-intentioned approaches to others marking an important time may be misinterpreted. That’s why the basis for such communication should always be one of respect…like the song says, ”R-E-S-P-E-C-T, don’t know what it means to me…” Avoid making assumptions about what’s important to people and demonstrate your genuine respect by initiating conversation and inquiring appropriately.

Barbara Benjamin-Treviño, Bentiva Education Solutions

www.bentiva.com

Barbara Benjamin-Treviño is the founder of Bentiva® Education Solutions, an independent publisher of bilingual reference materials to improve cross-cultural communication. She is the author of The Parent/Teacher Kon-ver-SAY-shun® Kit: Conversation Starters in English and Spanish and The Customer Relations Kon-ver-SAY-shun® Companion: Attracting More Hispanic Consumers.