• What is Mexican culture?
• Characteristics of Mexican culture
• Elements of Mexican culture
• Images of Mexican culture
• Mexican traditions and customs

We explain what Mexican culture is, the elements that compose it, its traditions, customs and other characteristics.

The richness of Mexican culture is due to its blend of modernity and its indigenous heritage.

What is Mexican culture?

Mexican culture is the result of both the tradition indigenous and Spanish culture imposed by colonization. A little less (in comparison) was the contribution of the African culture brought by the slaves that the Europeans themselves incorporated into the nascent society Latin American.

Between the cultures American origin that gave rise to it, the Maya, the mexica and the Toltec, among other. For its part, the Spanish influence was felt during the 500 years that the Spanish-American colonial era lasted, after the arrival of the Spanish conquerors to American lands in the 15th century.

The unique richness of Mexican culture is largely due to its blend of modern elements and its indigenous heritage. There are still 52 different native peoples, heirs of the pre-Hispanic nations decimated by the European conquest, endowed with their own language, mythology Y traditions.

In this way, in Mexico a society similar to that of Europe and the United States shake hands, with an important aboriginal legacy in the Arts, culture and ethnicity. Among these aspects, the gastronomy, considered by UNESCO as Intangible Heritage of Humanity, a reflection of the history pre and post colonial of this nation South American.

Their visual arts are also important worldwide, especially the painting, with names of international prestige such as Diego de Rivera, Frida Kahlo, José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros.

The same happens with his literature, rich and endowed with a Nobel Prize, awarded to the poet and essayist Octavio Paz in 1990, and his movie theater, whose “golden age” took place between 1930 and 1950, when local film production was the most important of all Latin America.

Mexican culture enjoys enormous prestige worldwide, which translates among other things into an activity tour very important, which make this nation one of the most visited destinations in the world.

Characteristics of Mexican culture

Mexico was the cradle of ancient cultures still little known as the Teotihuacan.

Like so many other Latin American nations, Mexico is a mestizo culture, that is, the result of complex dynamics of cultural syncretism whose elements come from different continents. Especially important are the Spanish and Catholic heritage, and that from the ancient Aztec Empire and other pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures.

It should be taken into account that the Mexican territory was part of one of the cradles of the humanity: Mesoamerica. From there, different important American cultures emerged: the Mayan, the Toltec, the teotihuacana, the mixtec, the olmec and the Mexica or Aztec, to name just a few well-known examples.

This causes many elements of diverse origin to cohabit, such as the religion Catholic (the main and dominant in the country) and the myths, mystical stories and customs of pre-Columbian origin, such as the famous Day of the Dead.

Mexican gastronomy is another example of this cross, since the heritage of aboriginal corn, beans and hot chili contrast with other elements of European roots. In this way, in Mexico more than 50 languages ​​of pre-Columbian origin are spoken, in a cultural mix that shows the complexity of any attempt to define the identity Mexican.

Elements of Mexican culture

Mariachi culture is part of Mexican popular music.

The following elements predominate in Mexican culture:

• Gastronomy. One of the gastronomies with the greatest personality in the world, heir to the aboriginal traditions in which the corn tortilla, beans, chili, guacamole, tamale, pozole and tostadas, as well as sauces, are protagonists. The enchiladas, tacos and tamales are internationally renowned, and in the aboriginal gastronomic variants one can find insects (such as chapulines, dips or escamoles), and others food characteristic.
• Literature. One of the most important Latin American literary traditions is the Mexican one, starring colonial authors like Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, nineteenth-century like Amado Nervo, and modern ones like Octavio Paz, Juan Rulfo, José Gorostiza, Carlos Fuentes, Fernando del Paso and many others. The inheritance of the Mexican Revolution (1910-1917) is very notorious in the Mexican artistic tradition.
• Music popular. Mexican popular music enjoys great international renown, especially ranchera songs and mariachi culture, or the Mexican corrido, having important exponents of protest music (such as the Mexican narcocorrido) and rock in Spanish. Renowned interpreters such as Pedro Infante, Vicente Fernández, Juan Gabriel, Julieta Venegas, and groups such as Café Tacvba, Maldita Vecindad, Caifanes, Maná or Molotov stand out, in different genres.
• Movie theater Y TV. Mexican cinema and television had a very important moment in the early and mid-20th century, with the participation of popular figures such as Pedro Infante, María Félix, Dolores del Río, Jorge Negrete, Mario Moreno “Cantinflas”, Germán Valdés “Tin tan "Or Roberto Gomes Bolaños" Chespirito ", the latter three particularly famous in the field of television humor.
• Archeology. The Mexican archaeological legacy is one of the best known and most important in America and the world, since a significant portion of its territory was occupied by various Mesoamerican cultures, particularly by the Aztec Empire, subjected to force by the Spanish conquerors. The main Mexican archaeological sites are Tulúm, Chichen Itzá, Cobá, Uxmal, Monte Albán and Dzibanché.

Images of Mexican culture

The Mexican archaeological legacy is one of the most important in the world.

Enchiladas, tacos and tamales are internationally renowned.

In the National Palace are the murals of Diego Rivera.

Ancient rituals such as the Paplanta flyers are still preserved.

The cultivation of blue agave, from which tequila is obtained, is part of Mexican culture.

Mexican traditions and customs

The Basilica of Guadalupe receives 20 million visitors a year.

Some of the main traditions and traditions of the Mexican people are the following:

• The day of the Dead. Celebrated between November 1 and 2, the date on which according to local tradition the dead are allowed to visit their living families, this is one of the most famous traditions of Mexican culture, even portrayed in American animated films such as Coconut . This festival is celebrated with dances, parades, typical foods (bread of the dead, sweet skulls) and decorations alluding to death (catrinas).
• The mariachis. Musicians of a homonymous popular genre are known as "mariachi", traditionally dressed in a "charro" (horseman) costume, which usually accompanies celebrations such as Mother's Day, the Virgin of Guadalupe, family parties or serenades. romantic The Plaza Garibaldi in Mexico City is famous, where the Mariachis are always available for immediate hiring by passersby.
• Worship of the Virgin of Guadalupe. The Catholic patron saint of Mexico is the virgin who supposedly appeared to the Indian Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin four times, in the year 1531. The day of this virgin, known as Our Lady of Guadalupe, alias the Queen of Mexico and Empress of America It is December 12, and it is one of the most important services in this American nation.
• The Day of the Revolution. Annually, Mexico celebrates on November 20 one of the most important socio-political processes in the country, the continent and even the world at the beginning of the 20th century, such as the Mexican Revolution. This event, which initially had as its purpose the overthrow of the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz In 1910, he ended up opening the door to a re-founding of the republic at the hands of various revolutionary leaders, who were debated in a bloody civil war whose protagonists are still remembered, especially Francisco “Pancho” Villa and Emiliano Zapata.