Changing configurations of Día de Muertos during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mexico and beyond
Changing configurations of Día de Muertos during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mexico and beyond
This pioneering book explores new configurations of Día de Muertos during COVID-19 within considerations of how the pandemic has shaped ideas about death and dying differently. It investigates how commemorative and mourning practices changed in Mexico during the turbulent years of 2020–21 and, through its innovative case studies of Mexican communities in Ireland and the UK, asks how the festival contributed in all three regions to global conversations about grief, mental health, and gender-based violence. We offer original analysis of Día de Muertos expressions including marches, dance performances, masks, film, and calavera poetry, alongside online and digital community and home-based creative gestures. Our analysis reveals how Mexicans and Mexicans abroad have engaged with the rich compendium of Día de Muertos symbolic and narrative systems in order to discuss how COVID-19 has re-framed ideas of loss and renewal more widely.
Lavery, Jane
d050c560-2005-4f27-bb70-c79f12f39e93
Finnegan, Nuala
1071b6b0-86f4-412c-a824-ef94968a193e
2025
Lavery, Jane
d050c560-2005-4f27-bb70-c79f12f39e93
Finnegan, Nuala
1071b6b0-86f4-412c-a824-ef94968a193e
Lavery, Jane and Finnegan, Nuala
(2025)
Changing configurations of Día de Muertos during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mexico and beyond
,
Palgrave Macmillan, 295pp.
Abstract
This pioneering book explores new configurations of Día de Muertos during COVID-19 within considerations of how the pandemic has shaped ideas about death and dying differently. It investigates how commemorative and mourning practices changed in Mexico during the turbulent years of 2020–21 and, through its innovative case studies of Mexican communities in Ireland and the UK, asks how the festival contributed in all three regions to global conversations about grief, mental health, and gender-based violence. We offer original analysis of Día de Muertos expressions including marches, dance performances, masks, film, and calavera poetry, alongside online and digital community and home-based creative gestures. Our analysis reveals how Mexicans and Mexicans abroad have engaged with the rich compendium of Día de Muertos symbolic and narrative systems in order to discuss how COVID-19 has re-framed ideas of loss and renewal more widely.
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In preparation date: 20 September 2022
Accepted/In Press date: 1 October 2025
Published date: 2025
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 475648
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/475648
PURE UUID: 2b2d626d-9671-47b7-91ac-a80080d5b0f2
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Date deposited: 23 Mar 2023 17:44
Last modified: 22 Sep 2025 16:42
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Author:
Nuala Finnegan
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