Editing Day of the Dead (section)

=== {{lang|es|nocat=true|Calaveras literarias}} ===
A distinctive literary form exists within this holiday where people write short [[poem]]s in traditional rhyming [[Verse (poetry)|verse]], called {{lang|es|[[Literary Calavera|calaveras literarias]]}} ({{lit|literary skulls}}), which are mocking, light-hearted [[epitaph]]s mostly dedicated to friends, classmates, co-workers, or family members (living or dead) but also to public or historical figures, describing interesting habits and attitudes, as well as comedic or absurd anecdotes that use death-related imagery which includes but is not limited to cemeteries, skulls, or the [[grim reaper]], all of this in situations where the dedicatee has an encounter with death itself.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/poetry/these-wicked-day-of-the-dead-poems-dont-spare-anyone|title=These wicked Day of the Dead poems don't spare anyone|date=2018-11-02|website=PBS NewsHour|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-06|archive-date=May 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190506162713/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/poetry/these-wicked-day-of-the-dead-poems-dont-spare-anyone|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Cordova, Ruben C. (2005). "Calaveras". In Ilan Stavans, ed. in chief, and Harold Augenbraum, assoc. ed., ''Encyclopedia Latina: History, Culture, and Society in the United States.'' Danbury, CT: Grolier Academic Reference, 4 vols.: I: 248 – 249.</ref> This custom originated in the 18th or 19th century after a [[newspaper]] published a poem narrating a dream of a cemetery in the future which included the words "and all of us were dead", and then proceeding to read the tombstones. Current newspapers dedicate {{lang|es|calaveras literarias}} to public figures, with [[cartoon]]s of [[skeleton]]s in the style of the famous {{lang|es|[[calavera]]s}} of [[José Guadalupe Posada]], a Mexican illustrator.<ref name=":1" /> In modern Mexico, {{lang|es|calaveras literarias}} are a staple of the holiday in many institutions and organizations, for example, in public schools, students are encouraged or required to write them as part of the language class.<ref name="Chávez"/>

[[File:Posada2.Catrina.jpeg|thumbnail|right|José Guadalupe Posada's depiction of La Calavera Catrina, shown wearing a then-fashionable [[1900s in Western fashion|early 20th-century hat]].<ref name=":2">{{cite news |last=Cordova |first=Ruben C. |date=November 2, 2019 |title=José Guadalupe Posada and Diego Rivera Fashion Catrina: From Sellout To National Icon (and Back Again?) |work=Glasstire |url=https://glasstire.com/2019/11/02/jose-guadalupe-posada-and-diego-rivera-fashion-catrina-from-sellout-to-national-icon-and-back-again/ |access-date=March 12, 2023 |archive-date=March 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312015330/https://glasstire.com/2019/11/02/jose-guadalupe-posada-and-diego-rivera-fashion-catrina-from-sellout-to-national-icon-and-back-again/ |url-status=live }}</ref>]]


Posada's most famous print, {{lang|es|[[La Calavera Catrina]]}} ("The Elegant Skull"), was likely intended as a criticism of Mexican upper-class women who imitated European fashions. It was first published posthumously in a broadside with a text (not by Posada) that mocked working-class vendors of [[chickpea]]s.<ref name=":2" />

Posada's image of a skeletal figure with a big hat decorated with two ostrich feathers and flowers was elaborated into a full scale figure by [[Mexican muralism|Mexican Muralist]] [[Diego Rivera]] in a [[fresco]] painted in 1946–47. Rivera's Catrina has a simple [[Tehuantepec|Tehuana]] dress and a feather boa, as well as other features that make allusions to the indigenous peoples of Mexico. Through the addition of these indigenous features, Rivera rehabilitated Catrina into a nationalist emblem.<ref name=":2" />

The Catrina character has become deeply associated with the Day of the Dead. Catrina figures made of a wide range of materials, as well as people with Catrina costumes, have come to play a prominent role in modern Day of the Dead observances in Mexico and elsewhere. The Catrina phenomenon has in fact gone beyond Day of the Dead, resulting in non-seasonal and even permanent "Catrinas", including COVID-19 masks, tattoos, permanently decorated cars, and Catrina-themed artworks.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Cordova |first=Ruben C. |date=November 2, 2020 |title=Catrina Mania! |work=Glasstire |url=https://glasstire.com/2020/11/02/catrina-mania/ |access-date=March 12, 2023 |archive-date=March 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312015332/https://glasstire.com/2020/11/02/catrina-mania/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Cordova |first=Ruben C. |date=November 1, 2021 |title=Catrina Mania III |work=Glasstire |url=https://glasstire.com/2021/11/01/catrina-mania-iii/ |access-date=March 12, 2023 |archive-date=March 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312015333/https://glasstire.com/2021/11/01/catrina-mania-iii/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Some artists have even developed a sub-specialization in Catrina imagery.<ref>{{cite news |last=Cordova |first=Ruben C. |date=October 30, 2022 |title=Catrina Mania IV: Brandon Maldonado's Catrinas |work=Glasstire |url=https://glasstire.com/2022/10/30/catrina-mania-iv-brandon-maldonados-catrinas/ |access-date=March 13, 2023 |archive-date=March 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313153031/https://glasstire.com/2022/10/30/catrina-mania-iv-brandon-maldonados-catrinas/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Theatrical]] presentations of ''[[Don Juan Tenorio]]'' by [[José Zorrilla y Moral|José Zorrilla]] (1817–1893) are also traditional on this day.