Resumen

BERMUDEZ HERNANDEZ, Luz del Rocío. The Cadaver as Relic: Waste and Fetish in Nineteenth Century Mexico. Hist. mex. [online]. 2023, vol.72, n.4, pp.1783-1815.  Epub 08-Mayo-2023. ISSN 2448-6531.  https://doi.org/10.24201/hm.v72i4.4624.

This article analyzes the evolution of posthumous treatment of the body during the nineteenth century in the territory of what is now Mexico (particularly the bishopric of Chiapa y Soconusco) through antecedents in the Mesoamerican past and under the Spanish colonial regime. Bibliographic sources and archival documents allow for an understanding of the concept of “cadaver” through three different aspects: as a reverential object of sacralization (relic), as a feared source of impurity and contamination (waste), and as an increasingly festive patriotic symbol (fetish). In what way did these conceptual phases intervene in the processes of conquest, colonization and formation of the Mexican nation-state? What role did the notion of “piety” play in each one of them?

Palabras llave : Chiapas; Funerary Cult; Piety; Patriotism; Secularization.