This study focuses on analysing Mexican children’s representations of death inasmuch as children are perceived as social actors that have an active role in constructing and giving meaning to social reality. The importance of analysing children’s representations about death is that it provides an opportunity to know how children give meaning to a notion that intersects with personal experiences, emotions, religious beliefs, and a sociocultural context. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyse, visually and verbally, the ways in which children - from 8 to 9 years of age - in a Mexican primary school represent their understanding of death through their drawings and their oral descriptions of them, which may unveil their opinions on the subject. The research material consists of the drawings and interviews of primary school children in Mexico. The girls and boys, who were in third grade, were selected from a school population based on a convenience sampling (Bryman 2016, p.187). The method of analysis is a combination of thematic analysis and Rose’s visual discourse analysis I. The main findings are that the participants represented their understanding of death in terms of realistic, fantastic and afterlife narratives according to their experiences. Most of the participants’ visions of death were represented with archetypal symbols of death, such as death personified. Contrary, the representations of the few participants who had a personal loss were realistic, except for one of them. In this sense, children’s representations of death draw on discourses imbued in visual media, religion, morality, and culture. Children's emotions about death varied according to their experiences, although most participants said that they do not fear death. Regarding life after death, most participants recognize a duality between body and soul. While the body dies, the soul lives and the place where the soul goes was perceived mainly in moralistic terms.

This study examines the ways visual culture influences a child's drawings. The child is my 9-year-old daughter Nada, who was born in Saudi Arabia and is a fourth-grade student temporarily living in the United States. The study uses qualitative methods of data collection and exploratory case study research design as a methodology. The data were analyzed in light of Althusser's theory of ideology, specifically the notion of interpellation, along with visual culture theories. In addition, gender performativity theory, specifically the work of Judith Butler, was used to consider gender issues when these concerns emerged from the study. Nada has been exposed to two diverse cultures, those of Saudi Arabia and the United States. Both cultures may impact Nada's interpretations of her visual surroundings in various ways. Therefore, recognizing and examining how she interacts with US visual culture might help to uncover how such interactions constitute the basis of her perceptions, identities, and critical thinking. Drawing is not only a means of self-expression but also an important function of communication, identity formation, and represents possible ways of being in the world that are related to culture, community, and society as a whole. The study begins with the premise that there is a gap in understanding between the importance of visual culture and its insufficient application in Saudi Arabian art education. The implications of this study may be informative for Saudi Arabian educators, individuals, or groups interested in visual culture education and children's drawings; potentially, the Saudi Arabian educational system may also use this study to enhance its appreciation of the impact of visual culture on the creation of art and knowledge.