Pro Tem - Vol. 62 Issue 3

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Le journal bilingue de Glendon | Glendon’s Bilingual Newspaper

Vol. 62 Issue 3 : le 2 novembre 2023

In This Issue Page 2 ● LETTER FROM THE EDITOR VIE ÉTUDIANTE Page 3 ● Tu veux chiller ? Mais où-ai ! Page 3 ● A Reflection on the Joint GCSU, YFS and YUGSA Statement ARTS ET DIVERTISSEMENT Page 5 ● Le costume d’Halloween le plus iconique Page 6 ● Goosebumps Revamped & Why We Like Scary Things SANTÉ ET BIEN-ÊTRE Page 7 ● Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice: An Autumn Tier List Page 8 ● Chickpea and Feta Bake METROPOLIS Page 8 ● Tim Hortons Page 9 ● Día de los Muertos and Modern Mexican Culture (cont.) ISSUES AND IDEAS Page 10 ● Lessons from the Past: Fostering Greater Reflection in Journalism Page 11 ● Storytelling Sells: A Lesson in Marketing EXPRESSIONS Page 12 ● Love of an Illness Page 12 ● Le fântome de Glendon Prochaines dates limites : vendredi 3 novembre 2023 vendredi 17 novembre 2023

Photo by Natalia Tovilla-Bátiz

Día de los Muertos and Modern Mexican Culture Natalia Tovilla-Bátiz Section Editor Fall weather has finally arrived, bringing with it the beautiful colours of the season and excitement for Halloween and Día de los Muertos. In restaurants, homes, and cultural spaces people hang papel picado, which are colourful pieces of paper that have beautiful intricate cut-out designs, families decorate ofrendas, altars with pictures and sentimental objects, and everything is covered with cempasúchil, orange marigolds. All around there are calaveras, which are festive sugar candied skulls, and are easily some of the most recognizable symbolic artistic elements for this holiday. Happening on November 1st and 2nd of every year, Día de los Muertos is now popularly celebrated by Mexicans around the world, not for

having a Mexican version of Halloween, but to dedicate a few days to honouring loved ones and paying homage to friends and family who have passed away. Historically, Día de los Muertos is a pre-Hispanic Mezoamerican tradition that comes from an ancient Aztec month-long celebration of honouring the dead. In fact, the Aztecs had many traditions that honoured the dead, especially with the use of skulls. However, when the Aztecs lost to the Spanish, the majority of their population was killed, and the Spanish imposed Catholicism on those who had survived and consequently banned year-round Indigenous traditions that honoured the dead. The Spanish clustered them all into only two days of the year – All Saints Day and All Souls Day – which are coincidentally November 1st and 2nd. Traditionally,

ofrendas need to have four elements – fire, earth, water, and wind – which is why we have papel picado for wind, food symbolic of earth, water, and candles representing fire. Typical offerings for ofrendas are tamales — a steamed chicken-and-salsa-stuffed corn dough wrapped in corn husks and banana leave — tequila, chili peppers, water, and pan de muerto, a type of Mexican sweet bread. Similar to most Mexican family households who are not of Aztec or Indigenous descent, having a large celebration for Día de los Muertos in my family was not the norm growing up. The popularization of Día de los Muertos comes after the release of the following films: “The Book of Life” (2014), “Spectre” (2015), and Disney’s “Coco” (2017). The “Book of Life” was the first animated film entirely based on Continued on PAGE 9


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