The Spanish-speaking people of northern New Mexico have a long tradition of written and oral culture that assists them in dealing with death. The recuerdo (remembrance) serves to memorialize the dead and to bring comfort to the family members. This leave-taking is known as la despedida and is normative in the lives of Hispanics. Alfred Schutz's phenomenology of everyday life and contributions by philosophers and folklorists are called upon to examine the recuerdo tradition as it continues to function today.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Rodríguez-PuértolasJ., La problemática socio-politica chicana en corridos y canciones, Aztlan, 6:3, pp. 97–116, 1975.
2.
SchutzA., Collected Papers, Vol. IThe Problem of Social Reality, Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, 1962.
3.
NatansonM., Phenomenology, Role and Reason Essays on the Coherence and Deformation of Social Reality, Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, 1974.
4.
MériméeE., A History of Spanish Literature, MorelyS. G. (trans., rev., and enlarged), Henry Holt and Co., New York, 1930.
5.
TuckD., The Corrido of the Mexican Revolution, The Greater Llano Estacado Southwest Heritage, 7, pp. 20–46, Spring 1977.
6.
CampaA., Spanish Folk Poetry in New Mexico, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1946.
7.
SifuentesR., Aproximaciones al ‘Corrido de los Hermanos Hernández’ ejucutados en la Cámara de Gas de la Penitenciaría de Florence, Arizona el día 6 de julio de 1934, Aztlan, pp. 95–109, 1982.
8.
ArellanoA. F. and VigilJ., Las Vegas Grandes in the Gallinas 1835–1985, Editorial Telarana, 1985.
9.
DorsonR., Corrido de la Muerte de Antonio Mestas, in Buying the Wind, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1964.
10.
DenzinN., The Methodologies of Symbolic Interaction: A Critical Review of Research Techniques, in Social Psychology Through Symbolic Interaction, StoneG. and FarbermanH. (eds.), Xerox College Publishing, Waltham, Massachusetts, 1970.
11.
GoffmanE., Interactional Ritual, Doubleday and Co. Inc., New York, 1967.
12.
BeckerE., The Birth and of Meaning, The Free Press, New York, 1964.
13.
GarfinkleH., Background Expectancies, in Rules and Meanings: The Anthropology of Everyday Knowledge, DouglasM. (ed.), Penguin Books, New York, 1973.
14.
GarfinkleH., The Routine Grounds of Everyday Experience, Social Problems, 11, pp. 225–249, 1964.
15.
JacksonD., The Study of the Family, in Family Process, AckermanN. (ed.), Basic Books, New York, 1972.
16.
ValleR. and MendozaL., The Latino Elder, Campanile Press, San Diego, California, 1978.
17.
GarcíaM., Preparing to Leave: Interaction at a Mexican American Family Gathering, paper presented at the National Conference on Latino Discourse Behavior, Princeton, New Jersey, April 1978.
18.
PazO., The Labyrinth of Solitude Life and Thought in Mexico, Grove Press, New York, 1961.
19.
VigilM. E., Sociedad de San Jose Prepares for Centenial Celebration, unpublished manuscript, Las Vegas, New Mexico, 1984.
20.
Lucero-WhiteA., Wakes for the Dead and the Saints, El Palacio, 52:12, pp. 255–258, 1945.
21.
MedinaA., personal communication, Mora, New Mexico, December 13, 1983.
22.
SanchezJ., personal communication, Las Vegas, New Mexico, November 10, 1991.
23.
JaramilloC., Shadows of the Past, Ancient City Press, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1941.
