E-mail: julia.barkova@gmail.com
Tel.: +7 (903) 750-64-49
31–1, Lomonosovskiy av., Moscow, 119192, Russian Federation
PhD (Cultural Studies), associate professor, Department of Comparative Literature and Culture of
Faculty of Foreign Languages and Area Studies, Moscow State University named after
M.V. Lomonosov
The article focuses on comprehension of “La Cantada” tradition in the context of the Day of the Dead celebration in Naolinco (Veracruz, Mexico) following results of expedition of 2011. La Cantada is regarded as variation of religious song “alabanza” that forms bright local specific character of the Day of the Dead celebration. Cultural time-and-space of this holiday interlaced with Catholic All Soul’s Day goes beyond one calendar day and embraces with its ritualism several days and even weeks. Unlike Christian Europe, where connection with dead relatives is realized through motifs of memory and of prayer to God and Saints (with preserving distance between our world and Another world), in Mexico the border between world of living and world of dead is overcome through motif of Meeting with them. The specific character of the Cantada is defined by religious syncretism connecting ancient Mesoamerican beliefs and vision of afterlife with Catholic tradition. Performing of the Cantada in front of Altars of the Dead and at cemetery actualizes the key concepts of Mexican culture, among which the duality of life and death manifests itself as culture-forming element and is reflected in poetic texts. Folk Cantadas addressed to God, to Apostles, to Catholic, Latin American and local Saints, also to dead relatives, have one simple major motif that helps everybody to join singing a capella or with guitar accompaniment. The main symbolical meaning of joint singing of alabanza is the motif of unity with the Higher World (addressing to God, Apostles and Saints), unity of living people with dead people, unity of locals with guests. La Cantada chants play the important role in transmission of sacred Christian, Latin American and local history, serve educational aims.
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La Cantada. Naolinco. Re-vive tu tradicion [La Cantada. Naolinco. Revive your tradition] (2011). Naolinco. In Spanish.
Lechuga R.D. (2002) Rituales de Día de Muertos [Rituals of Day of the Dead]. Artes de México [Arts of Mexico]. 2002. No. 62: Día de Muertos. Serenidad ritual [Day of the Dead. Ritual serenity]. Pp. 16–23. In Spanish.
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Reyes Landa R. (2009) La Muerte como expresión de la mexicanidad [The death as the expression of Mexicanity]. In: Festividad de Todos Santos. Concepción y misticismo acerca de la muerte en el centro de Veracruz [All Saints’ Day. Conception and mysticism of the death in the center of Veracruz]. Mexico. Pp. 65–77. In Spanish.
Vashchenko A.V. (2013) Vozvrashchenie na Itaku: etnokul’turnyy faktor v mirovom hudozhestvennom prostranstve vtoroy poloviny XX v. [Return to Ithaca: the ethno-cultural factor in world artistic space of the second half of the 20th century]. Moscow. In Russian.
Vásquez Zárate S.R. (2009) Elementos para comprender el culto de la muerte [Elements for understanding the cult of the death]. In: Festividad de Todos Santos. Concepción y misticismo acerca de la muerte en el centro de Veracruz [All Saints’ Day. Conception and mysticism of the death in the center of Veracruz]. Mexico. Pp. 55– 63. In Spanish.
Westheim P. (2003) Temor a la muerte. Angustia de vivir [Fear of the death. Anxiety to live]. Artes de México [Arts of Mexico]. 2003. No. 67: Día de Muertos II. Risa y calavera [Day of the Dead II. Smile and skull]. Pp. 31–36. In Spanish.