México Intercultural Magazine Vol. VII May - August 2017

May – August 2017 VOL.7

www.mexicointercultural.org

• HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AS SNOBBERY • SAMPERIAN UNIVERSES • fASHION, ETHNICITY AND HISTORICAL MEMORY IN OAXACA • MEXICAN TABLEAUS

Founder

Elizabeth del Castillo Zavala

Editor’s

Letter

“Transmit culture to all, regardless of race or category”

Editor in chief

Elizabeth del Castillo Zavala Editorial coordinator

Carlos Reyes Arroyo Editorial care and copyediting

Berenice Ramos Romero English translator

Lenya Caldarera Bloom Art Director and Graphic designer

– Confucius (551 a.c. - 479 a.c.), philosopher

Agencia de Publicidad Sanvayú

Our magazine, Mexico Intercultural, begins this year by providing a space to those voices that need and want expression, whether in print or digital format. And so we bring together culture, the arts, knowledge both current and of yesteryear and share them with the world--a world steeped in technology, social issues and fears.

We aim to share a different facet of things. A facet illuminated with intelligence and dedication, where people can use knowledge to improve society.

Elizabeth del Castillo Zavala Carlos Alberto Reyes Arroyo Eduardo Barragán Reyes José Luis García Valdés Alicia Yañez Mendoza

We are also pleased to announce that we have been granted an International ISSN number, thanks to our hard-working team, which understood the importance of this step. We also thank our readers, lovers of culture and art, who make our goals attainable by supporting our work.

Without further ado, welcome to this new edition for the month of May and we hope you have a lovely summer.

Radio Zona Libre

Market editor and General Inquires

Elizabeth Rivero lizrivero@hotmail.com

Contact

Phone number:

Local: 01 222 78 30 346 Cellphone: 22 22 39 50 50

E-mail:

contacto@mexicointercultural.org direccion.editorial@mexicointercultural.org

Address:

Camino Cuayantla N°. 1804, Interior B, San Bernardino, Tlaxcalancingo, Puebla, C.P. 72821.

MÉXICO INTERCULTURAL, Year 3 #07 May - August 2017 is a quarterly publishing, edited by María del Consuelo Elizabeth del Castillo Zavala; Address: Camino Cuayantla # 1804-B, San Bernardino, Tlaxcalancingo, San Andrés Cholula Puebla, Zip Code 72 821, Phone number 783-03-46, www.mexicointercultural.org/revistadigital, direccion@mexicointercultural.org. Editor in Charge: María del Consuelo Elizabeth del Castillo Zavala. Number rights reservations 04-2017-031508512400203, Title Legality and Content granted by Instituto Nacional del Derecho de Autor. Responsible for the latest update: María del Consuelo Elizabeth del Castillo Zavala, Camino Cuayantla # 1804-B, San Bernardino, Tlaxcalanzingo, San Andrés Cholula Puebla, Zip Code 72 821, last up January 2017. The opinions expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the posture of the publishing editor. The partial or total reproduction of contents and pictures of the publishing is strictly forbidden without a previous authorization of the national institute of author rights.

Content page

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Coaching.

Human Development as Snobbery

Do people read in the 21st Century?

pรกg.

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Clear Water, Muddy Water

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page

SAMPERIAN UNIVERSES.

How social networks relate to your business?

Homage to Guillermo Sampiero

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Fashion, Ethnicity and Historical Memory in Oaxaca, Mexico page

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Language and Education

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Mexican tableaus in the 20th and 21st century (part 1) page

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Entre Culturas

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Laura Flores y Tenorio

J

orge Luis Borges used to say that reading is happiness, and no one can be forced to be happy. He held that people should read well and abundantly and begin as soon as possible, because a moment in life when our future is shorter than our past inevitably arrives. When it does, everything truly good that we have read will help us choose how to spend our most valuable remaining currency: time.

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It is useless to ask whether we read more or less in the 21st century. Clearly we more easily consume information than in centuries past, which appears to be synonymous to quality reading. This is why we believe that people currently read more than they once did. Tablets, computers and other mobile devices expedite the process of symbol decoding; nevertheless we must ask ourselves: what, how and why do we read? In most cases, unfortunately, our information is delivered through social networks.

We view an image and read a brief, low-quality text; this is superficial reading. Where is the literature?

The deep read? The cultured read?

At this point many studies have shown how reading exercises cognitive processes that increase our

“We are the books we have read and the empty space left in their absence” Tomás Eloy Martínez imaginative capacities. Anyone who has ever read a Harry Potter book will recall how one’s mind desires to “see” the train scenes or “taste” the Christmas delicacies. With each book we read we strengthen our perceptive capacities and our mind’s creative abilities. Creativity feeds an individual’s power to innovate, and the process of innovation is linked to the development and application of new ideas.

Furthermore, we know that reading increases our vocabulary and improves our communicative skills. Being able to express ourselves fluently and coherently is advantageous to both our professional and our personal lives, as our discourse develops through the use of language. How do we convince

the benefits inherent to reading, one is most vital to this moment in time, the development of empathy.

How can we begin to comprehend poverty and the desperate need to leave one’s Another important advantage that country in search of a better life? avid readers have is the ability By reading Amarás a Dios sobre to remain focused and not allow todas las cosas by Alejandro themselves to be distracted.

Hernández. How can we improve Finishing a three-hundred page public policy? By reading Sandra book requires a focused mind.

Lorenzano’s La Estirpe del Silencio Currently, many businesses face Margo Glantz or Los Corruptores or Jorge Zepeda the issue of their employees’ lack of extended, specific focus. Generally, people move Patterson’s Milenia. How can we help ourselves from one medium to the next in a matter of seconds; remember those who live in the midst of violence? By for example, they abandon the report they are writing reading No Manden Flores by Martín Solares. when a message arrives to their inbox or Facebook sends a notification alert. It is a fact that people who Let us read, future and current professionals, let us read, read more, read deeply; let us enjoy and read more are less likely to be distracted. learn from each text. Our passion for literature will Margo Glantz, a Mexican author, tells us that impact our society by spreading humanism as “reading broadens awareness, although currently we share our knowledge. Remember: “We are the this is less important to people since other means books we have read.” of communication prioritize the spectacle and people now prefer it. Reading, on the other hand, M. Laura Flores y Tenorio offers the possibility of knowing other worlds and Humanistic Studies Department Chair, Tecnológico de understanding even their most mundane details; it Monterrey, Puebla is fascinating.” Glantz’s words remind us that of all someone that our viewpoint is valid? Without a doubt we need solid arguments.

Reading broadens awareness

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COACHING:

Human

Development as Snobbery Héctor Cerezo Huerta

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he psyches of millions of citizens have been incited to search out jumping off points for personal change and balms for happiness.

The predominance of neoliberal politics and postmodern ideologies has become fertile ground for the proliferation of true coaching, that is, a tendency towards snobbery and a commercial offering that employs narcissistic manipulation and the chimera of radical transformation. Perhaps the best definition of coaching is that which reveals its emphasis on individualism and pragmatic view of the ontological.

The mind and happiness have become products of mass consumption that can be taken from the shelf of the supermarket of human development where anyone can shop simply because of supply and demand conditions. Really these “items” are devices for technocratic conformism, control and reproduction of the notion of humankind as an instrument for immediate pleasure, incapable of investing time and intense work in achieving it.

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Science is invisible to the scientifically illiterate and because of this, coaching as a source of knowledge, is unrestricted by epistemological regulations and administrative rules; rather, it is guided purely by mercantile and ideological intentions. In Mexico, being a coach is a dressing, an adornment, an

aspirational selfie that only looks good on the life page of those who mimic mental health professionals in order not to look like vulgar intruders. Coaches’ egos live on broken images and not on the construction of solid, comprehensive knowledge prepared for replication, like a psychologists’ work.

The political message behind coaching is the need for us to believe that problems are individual rather than structural, as in, “your attitude is the problem.”

In my reflections, I dare not provide “psychological cheering” or speak to my patients about “being positive and leaving their comfort zones.” These are people who work long days for exploitative bosses, people whose paychecks barely cover their needs each month. Coaches tell them to become entrepreneurs, their own bosses, that they should turn their lives into a business or that with some personal work they can “change everything,” because, as the vomit goes: “If you believe you can create it.”

In an opinion piece written by Parker and Pavón Cuéllar (2013) coaching expresses the triumph of business-mindedness and the transformation of man into a simple storage container of practical psychic resources at the service of the socioeconomic imperative. To paraphrase Canguilhem (2009) how can psychologists be instrumental in

a world where people are instruments? In this way, coaching represent the most efficient mechanism for social adaptation, confirming to those dedicated to “human development” that it is not in the least interested in the philosophical questioning of its knowledge and practices. Therefore people never ask the coach what the merely utilitarian and instrumental work he does is good for.

Despite how coaching positions itself as a training system for those who do not have a clinically significant mental condition (Vicente, Berdullas y Castilla, 2012), its arguments centered on the mind and individual change are profoundly tautological , extremely eclectic, and tinged with ideological fundamentalism.

In my opinion, coaching is becoming an “ideal” scenario for professional trespassing. The abundance of practices connotes therapeutic abuse in addition to an unmeasured industrialization of economic earnings.

Are there tips for being happy? I believe there are. Look for emotional balms to heal your vulnerable psyche.

Let yourself be seduced by the infinite modalities of coaching. It will change your life! And truly it will.

The ideological indoctrination, industrialization of the mind, individualism, and thought reduction are completely unprecedented. You will wish for concrete answers, you will no longer ask yourself critical questions, and you will become an infantilized consumer at the supermarket of souls.

References: Canguilhem, G. (2009). What is psychology? In Historical and Philosophical Studies in Science. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Amorrortu. (Originally published in 1958).

Parker, I. y Pavón-Cuéllar, D. (comps.). (2013). Lacan, Discourse, Event: New Analyses of Textual Interdetermination. Mexico, D.F. Plaza and Valdés.

Vicente, A; Berdullas, S; Castilla, C. (2012). Coaching Psychology: An emerging sub-discipline of psychology? Infocop, 56, 3-6.

Available at: http://www.copc.org/documentos/files/ coaching/ coach.pdf

PhD. Héctor Cerezo Huerta Professor - Instructor of Adult Education at Iztacala, UNAM

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Clear water, MUDDY WATER Ignacio Huerta Villarreal

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hen you arrive in the world you are a beautiful, transparent, empty crystal glass. In the moment you arrive, people pour into you thoughts of purity and love. You learn about relationships in society, but you do not yet know discrimination or other causes of societal discomfort. As time goes by, the cups around you that once shared their clear and pure waters begin to stop sharing. Cups filled with impure waters tainted by divisiveness, aggression and ego may approach. Slowly, their muddy waters affect the purity and clarity of your mind, polluting your water. This is when you stop viewing the world as a wonder, it stops being a miracle, a place of excitement; suddenly complications and impossibilities appear, solutions escape you.

Everything seems more complex. It is difficult to distinguish between bad and good with the nowmuddied waters of your mind; you can no longer clearly see the true qualities of things. Is the fruit before you pure and clean enough to ingest? Or is it poisoned?

Every day we make choices that feed our mind; we have a certain amount of information which can be helpful (clear water) or harmful (muddy water) and so we must decide how we nourish ourselves on a given day. Thoughts of: caring, peace, trust, security, love, unity, courage, respect, gratitude, and loyalty will provide us, as when we were children, with awareness of our capacities, power and joy in life. Filling our minds with these values allows us to

know one another and our surroundings; in this way we can be transparent to the world and observe its beauty, opportunities, inhabitants and life itself. We can be in tune with and feel our inner life as it shares it clear waters with others.

The opposite occurs when we are filled with doubt, anger, resentment, fear, regret, sadness, rage, thoughts and feelings that cloud our view as they pollute our waters. They prevent us from clearly seeing our surroundings; they create prejudice and force us to criticize what we do not know. These negative feelings push us towards unhappiness and martyrdom.

Now you know. Discover how you are able to change what feeds your thoughts and nourish your

mind with the best, because that is what you are: the best.

With what type of water will you fill your cup each day?

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Coach Ignacio Huerta Villareal Author, Speaker, Coach

SAMPERIAN UNIVERSES

HOMAGE TO

Guillermo

Samperio Rubenski

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ain falls on the café terrace. I have a cappuccino while waiting for the ghosts. The sky vibrates with my cigarette smoke. One more puff and I hear the phantasmal voice of Guillermo Sampiero (1948-2016) in the background, he will take me to discover dreams, underground rivers, magnetic earthquakes the hecatombs of the psyche. An eternal desire for women, embellishments undressing in the night. Damp perfume lurks in the Marilyn Monroe’s beauty. Sampiero’s voice unfurls in her fiery eyes. The night opens in a lament and laughter. Phosphorescent women watch us, palpating the edges of the book, amber-colored horses cross the night in our eyes and lean their weight on our eyelids. We are an oval window when we read his letters, a window open to infinity, which wraps us in beauty and mystery. The hidden moon of thought.

important events from his childhood, his life and from afternoon to night we smoke like chimneys in his house in Narvarte. He tells me he calls me little son and champion and also Ru. We discuss the hundreds of images decorating his walls and his voice resounds; a genius of literature, of fiction. He led workshops with Juan José Arreola and Augusto Monterroso.

Light and silence flow through his books, hundreds of horses and birds in lontananza, the marvel of a torn voice, of drunkenness as Baudelaire said. Later, Guillermo, my pal, the prolific author, tells me of

At that moment, for example, you could give your friend a tour of your house and it would take how to explain why this Chinese pencil sharpener is here, that shoe with the gold metal heel, a monks shrunken

We had an appointment every Tuesday when he wasn’t teaching and we smoked, I watched him draw and tell me worlds. His literary teachings were particular. We were always great friends and I went every week; I read his writings. The magazines. We listened to Cobain and Bob Marley. Sampiero and his captivating texts against the system. The rebellion. His innovative prose surprising the reader and dragging her to the unknown:

head from the Amazons, the bookmark depicting Picasso’s “Woman leaning on her elbow.” People like to listen to you because, when focusing on your cabinet of curiosities or cluttered apartment, they at first neglect the cosmos of things therein. You wait for the question about the small wheel of fortune with red chairs in the middle of an oval of water, which is called Wien Reisengrad in German. Then you begin the story and, if the listener is careless, you link one story to the next through the little things, until you have deposited a spoken book in her ear.

The editorial house Catedra, in Madrid, published Maravillas Malabares (2015) with a lengthy introduction

by Javier Fernández who put together the anthology.

It is important to note that this publisher only printed to Mexican authors’ works previously: Octavio Paz and Salvador Elizondo. The first entered into the living collection, the other into the dead. Guillermo Sampiero was the second living Mexican in Catedra.

A few years ago Historia de un vestido negro (21013) appeared at Alfaguara publishers and Sueños de escarabajo (2013) at Fonde de Cultura Economica. The publishing house Educacion y Cultura de Puebla joined with Trama Editorial in Madrid to publish a collection of stories by the author called Al fondo se escucha el rumor del oceano (2013). A year prior his book of essays titled El principe Medusa (2012) appeared at the Universidad Autónoma de la Ciudad de México. These works hold more than ten years of work where his symphonies of words will endure. His last published book was Volvimos a escuchar ese adagio de Mozart, published in Spain by Chaman Ediciones in 2016. It was a grandiose job for Editor Pedrio Gascón.

The secret lock is opened and the cars on Insurgentes jump in fright to the service lanes as a mob of horses run towards them across the bridge and as they descend, the buses ascend, dislodging the drivers, and the horses carefully drive the buses and do not charge people, instead of tickets they give out hay; people thank them with a whinny.

But not everything is merriment. They are also bleeding horses. Horses that “galloped the books of tournaments, wars. Hunting trips. Others, dead,

spread across the battle field: their blood running between blades of grass, sand, rocks.” Horses fall flashing into the abysm. Thundering horses that shine the in the darkness of the world. Caballos de oro en la noche (2013) edited in Medellin Colombia by Silaba Editores.

A diverse cocktail of emotions and currents mix in Guillermo Sampiero’s books. There are essays for left- handed people. A poem dedicated to “the unusual night that dismantles me.” It is a journey to paroxysm and the stars of fire. To the trilling birds whirling in the mind, the childhood of flying beetles and water pearls.

Of little painted peach pits. The green of the gardens, the shadow of the sun, blind us. Because in his lines reside the trance, the strong and sweet emotion of things, a sharp knock on midnight’s door. Sampiero has left it all, and he dazzles us with images that linger in our thoughts and expand in our emotions. They break the paradigms of reality because ladybugs fly toward Guillóm. They spread their posed wings on his nose and tattoos. The take off until lost in the green of the grass. He has always respected them, likewise earthworms. His fascination for anything small led him to find potato bugs, which he loved for “their ability to dissimulate in a grey ball, the best defense against predators.” An entire almanac of experiences and encounters with the “smoke of words,” with “the man who collected cups.” We can enter into the constellations where ammunition pounds us and “Greece and Liberty,” two streets in the Claveria neighborhood, where the author was born, tell us about an archi-multi-faceted Mexico City.

Samperian universes bolt like stars at dawn to tell us that life is a dust mote suspended in the air, an emerald or copper June bug, a pitcher without a handle. The last puff of a cigarette. Like expanding in the echo of seventy time seven over the cadaver of woman wearing purple heels.

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M. Rubén Campos Arias Writer and poet

How

social networks relate to

YOUR BUSINESS ?

Juan Manuel San Martín Reyna

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ho hasn’t heard the topics of Facebook, Twitter, blogs and chats being discussed? The truth is they mark a turning point for the issue of social networking. Perhaps initially, adults thought these sites were meant for young people, so they could communicate with one another. However, their popularity has increased to the point where we rarely stop to think about whether they can function as a low-cost tool for improving business.

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For example, five out of ten businesses in the United States use some kind of application like blogs to share their ideas with the communities that interest them. Some might say that Facebook or Twitter are overpopulated; but social networks themselves help you to segment these massive populations.

When you contact someone on Facebook you can familiarize yourself with their detailed consumer profile; everything is there for you: photographs, personal information, preferences, etc. This helps us think about specific initiatives for specific groups.

As you can imagine, the use social networks for business or personal means is accompanied by the internet revolution we are currently living. Many businesses in numerous countries have already incorporated it into their activities. Nevertheless, in Mexico not even 22% have taken the leap, even though the percentage for media in Latin America and the Caribbean is 30%. Add to this the fact that a great percentage of our population does not have home access to technology. In fact, of the four million micro, small and mid-size business in their sector only an approximate 30% use a computer to manage their business—hard to believe at this point in the 21st century. The lack of social network use in these businesses arises from the owners’ own limited knowledge as to the reach of these tools. For example, many businesses have a website that only provides information about the business and its products, but is not interactive. I am underscoring the importance of these networks as possible work tools because we are currently embroiled in their BOOM, talk of these particular networks has

increased 1000% over the last years; just imagine all the possibilities they hold.

Now the question is, as a business owner, how can I utilize the advantages of forming a Facebook community? For example: 1. Create your codes. To help you overcome the fear of using these networks, the first step is to adapt them to your particular business style. Exchange the culture of chatting with friends for emphasizing use of this medium in contacting work, clients and service providers. In this way you can reduce the cost of travel or phone calls.

2. Make teams. Facebook can be an excellent ally for creating focus groups, for one simple reason: the users have already established a certain profile within the network. It is similar to having a segmented data base. Here you can ask users their opinions on a new product, business model, slogan etc.‌ The best part is, you don’t have to invest a

lot of money, like you would in the traditional focus group or market study format.

3. Save time and money. Generally, people who connect to social networks sign on again and again. This means that if you post an invitation or marketing campaign, it will be seen continuously.

Each time it is seen it reiterates key messages about your business to the consumers. Your message can be available to them for as long as you like.

4. Add new platforms. Corporate pages no longer serve exclusively to inform. As a business owner you can use this platform to interact with potential clients, invite users to join your network, send invitations, take polls and even measure the number of visitors to your page. You can even use Twitter to carry out surveys and cull interesting results from Twitter users.

PhD. Juan Manuel San MartĂ­n Reyna Principal, Udlap consultants

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Fashion, Ethnicity and Historical Memory

OAXACA In

MÉXICO Daniela Ekdesman Levi

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he gourmet market called Alhóndiga Reforma, inaugurated on March 25th, 2016 was the chosen venue for the Ethnic Fashion Expo1, which hopes to inspire further business tourism to the city of Oaxaca.

Additionally, it is seeking to turn the state of Oaxaca into a commercial cluster2, inspiring competition, and quality, artisan textile to be used in the production of clothing, footwear, accessories and furniture. The expo will exhibit the heterogeneous ideas of emerging, contemporary designers as they combine their artistic visions, their ethnic origins and cultures with a fashionable world view as a means of recovering the local artisan practices.

The Ethnic Fashion Expo Oaxaca will be composed of fashion shows and thematic talks. The attending public will be offered artisan beer, mescal and food items as they enjoy the regional designs from the coast, the isthmus and the central valleys.

Fashion, ethnicity and historical memory “…Memory allows us to create an image of the past that corresponds to the present’s framework of meaning.”3 E. Peralta (2007) Fashion as we know it today arose at the end of the Middle Ages when basic needs for warmth and protection were provided by a suit—made of natural, synthetic and mixed fibers—that indicated socioeconomic levels, historical context, and various daily social activities. From there the modern era and nature conspired to provide new ways of dressing, new colors and new production techniques for each social group and societal roll that permitted a variety of clothing4. Therefore, the suite as a component of cultural identity has been and is now intimately related to ethnicity: values, cultural practices and specific characteristics (language, religion, costume, customs, memory)

that permit citizens to be grouped in a particular way. The citizens in turn can recognize others and define themselves in their communities with the ultimate goal of belonging.

Thus, both the ethnicity and cultural patrimony of a community are linked to social memory or historical memory, understood as: “…that piece of conscious or unconscious collective history that allow us to participate in certain traditions or socio-cultural activities that… we consider quotidian… and that we have learned within our primary or secondary social groups…who...in their way, hand down a list of memories to retain or forget thereby allowing us to integrate into our surrounding society or culture…” (Ekdesman, 2012).

Conclusion If discussing historical memory, ethnicity and fashion is a reflective exercise for examining both the self and others, it also serves, in this case, to give meaning to social and economic belonging for a group of individuals who, because of on socio-cultural conditions: origin, ethnicity, religion, economic level, sex, gender identity, have had difficulty developing personal or professional ties

to their environment. These are the people who through festivals and events like the Ethnic Fashion Expo, can find opportunities to connect to their past and future, transforming their own cultural expressivity into a source of revenue and positioning their culture and knowledge within the global arena.

References: 1. Ekdesman, Levi, Daniel. (2012) How New Technologies Influence Mexican Traditions: Celebrating Day of the Dead in Oaxaca. Chapter 4: Cultural Memories and Traditions. Page 6. (Thesis in progress, Post graduate program in Cultural Governance and Communication, School of Latin American Social Studies, FLACSO Argentina).

2. Marcos Arévalo, Javier. (2010) Patrimony as Collective Representation. The Intangibility of Cultural Heritage. 26 (1), article 19, 7. Accessed from http://www.ugr.es/~pwlac/ G26_19Javier_Marcos_Arevalo.html 3.S/a.

3. Business issues. Cluster concepts Peru, 1 .

Accessed from: http://www.uss.edu.pe/uss/eventos/JovEmp/ pdf/LOSCLUSTER.pdf

In April 2009 and 2010 the event was called Ethnofashion Oaxaca. It was held from the 8th-16th of April this year.

2 “…group of interconnected businesses and institutions in a limited geographical zone, united by shared or complementary features, and who work in a similar activity of product.”

3 Conclusion in reference number 2.

4 According to the RAE online page: Item or items of outer clothing that cover the body.

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M. Daniela Ekdesman Levi Professor, writer, publisher and cultural researcher

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Mexican tableaus

in the 20th and 21st century (Part 1) Carmen Franco

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he tableaus are popular paintings created to express gratitude to god, the virgin and any Catholic saint; they are commonly found in churches or sanctuaries. They were usually painted with oil or enamel on steel sheets and tended to represent a miraculous event in two ways: a pictorial version and a textual version that together testify to the divine intervention inherent to the miracles depicted. (figure 1) The images on these tableaus exhibit popular art imitating “high culture” religious artwork, inspired by paintings from other eras. Their style is shallow, lacking the perspective and proportion of more academic artwork, generally because they were painted in a short amount of time. Simple folk requested these works from inexpert artists who painted the tableaus with care and decorum.

They are characterized by three general elements: 1) The use of standardized images taken from important religious artwork but painted simply and with modest resources; this fact gives the tableaus a carefree yet traditional look.

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and the painter. The tableaus were commonly used to give thanks for a donkey that didn’t die or for other daily issues that were resolved.

The small works of art reveal conditions in Mexico as it went through political, social and cultural change; they are a glimpse at the world through the eyes of common men experiencing historical transition. They also reveal the needs and beliefs of the Mexican people, and because of this, the paintings have persisted through time as a form of popular representation.

Tableaus during the Mexican Revolution (1910-1930) History can be seen through the eyes of the people.

They expressed their experiences both graphically and textually as tragedy struck their region and country; such was the Mexican Revolution as experienced by many.

2) The ingenuousness of the painters is manifest in the spelling errors found in the inscriptions.

This shows the social class of the believers; these paintings did not belong to well-off citizens or members of the Church. These small works of art were not created by renowned artists but by common people who, possibly, had minimum knowledge of painting technique.

3) The themes of the paintings are occasionally ironic in nature and reflect the ingenuousness of both the believer who requested the work

Figure 1. St. Onofre Tableau Antonio Zuñiga (1859). Our Lady of Loneliness Basilica. Photograph: INAH.

Figure 2. Anonymous. Tableau dedicated to San Francis of Assisi In the year of 1922, July 9th, into the heart of peace the missionary monks we assaulted by bandits that tried to kill them… 9 died, the next day Matehuala’s soldiers came...

National heroes arose from these struggles, were made official by subsequent governments, and legitimized by public thought in Mexico. Yet Francisco I. Madero, Villa, Zapata, Carranza and Obregón, were not always admired by the Mexican people since they had the country up-in-arms for eleven years.

The popular religious paintings made during this time express the inconformity, suffering and resentment felt by many citizens who resisted the changes; their religious roots were deeply sunk in the Spanish Conquest. Particular scenes reflect people’s fear as the revolutionary generals passed by, the insecurity they brought with them as they forcibly removed people’s property, raped women and forced men to fight alongside them. In addition there was great social inequality, poverty and a lack of education. (figure 2) The unique style of these tableaus continued through this period, though transformed in content and theme. During the Revolution it was common to paint people carrying weapons, there were images of soldiers and even peasants in situations of conflict.

There are scenes showing train wagons, train tracks, houses and temples afire, hanged bodies, or people that had been injured or shot as well as other incidences linked to the revolutionary period. The clothing worn in the paintings is also characteristic of the period: Zapatista or Villista style hats, bullet belts, long dresses and the crossed shawls of the “Adelitas” (women fighters).

If you would like to learn more about these paintings, there is a collection on view at the Museo Amparo of the City of Puebla Please visit their website at: http://museoamparo. c o m /e x p os i c i o n e s/p i e z as/5 8 / te s ti m o n i os- d e -fe coleccion-de-exvotos-del-museo-amparo

Bibliography Tableaus (2000). Mexican Art. Mexico: CONACULTA. Gutiérrez, R. (2014) “The Baroque and the Popular, Artistic Expression in Contemporary America” in Baroque Art: A review from the sidelines. Mexico: La Laguna. Mapfre Guanarteme Foundation.

M. Carmen Rosas Franco Publisher, graphic designer, and resercher of Narrative in children’s literatura

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Language

AND EDUCATION

Shannon Hickey Álvarez

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hen calling for a doctor’s appointment, asking for a menu in a restaurant, letting your husband know that you’ve arrived, or whispering, “I love you” to your children as you tuck them into bed, there is that one thing unites all of these interactions. Language.

Language drives what we do as humans, how we do express ourselves, and what results we obtain. The same is powerfully true in teaching and learning.

Simple in its essence and powerful in its message, but often complex in its implementation.

Learning a language, whether it be a mother tongue or an additional language, does not conclude once the ability to encode and decode oral and written texts has been achieved. This is where language richness begins. So the question arises, “Is what and how students are reading and writing encouraging them to deepen their understanding of the power of language?” This uncomfortable yet invaluable reflection leads us to analyse our teaching practices in profoundly important ways.

Because language is the heart and soul of our work as educators, it is essential to start with our own reflective discussion. Through discussions, consult and research, we learn more about ourselves as educators and our students as language learners.

The power of a story can be harnessed to drive students into deeper conceptual understanding.

Exploring our own selves (even our smallest 5-6-year-old selves) as authors, allows for students to demonstrate their understanding in a deep and enduring ways.

This deeply affects how we must view young learners. This means that we must view learners as

capable communicators who already have much to offer. Their voices and opinions are already valid by the mere reason that they are members of our community. Their voices may be trained and shaped, just as a singer is coached into reaching higher pitches and powerful vibratos, but the voice- their individual voice- is always present and valued. The adage of “calladito te ves más bonito” must be extinguished.

Banished and forgotten. It must be replaced with “Tus ideas me importan y las quiero escuchar.”

There are moments where reading should be for pure enjoyment and pleasure. However, there are moments where genres and stories can be used to springboard learners into deeper thought and discussion. There are moments when writing will be a reflection of what a child has learned. But, there must also be moments when writing encourages learners to share the stories that live inside of them already.

As we read more, we grow, we question, we explore.

Reading builds a safe place where young people can explore about themselves and about the world. Books can be mirrors for us to find out more about ourselves. But, books can also be windows.

Windows where we look through to see people and places very different from the people and places that surround us. What a powerful yet also inviting way to encourage peace and understanding through language. When we write – when we pen our own stories – once distant authors become our friends and mentors. We can conclude that stories are powerful tools in sharing who we are.

M. Shannon Hickey Álvarez English program Coordinator at the American School of Puebla

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We appreciate the participation of the following writers:

• M. Laura Flores Tenorio Humanistic Studies Department Chair, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Puebla. laura.patricia.flores@itesm.mx • PhD. Héctor Cerezo Huerta Professor – Instructor of Adult Education at Iztacalca, UNAM. hectorcerezo@hotmail.com • Coach Ignacio Huerta Villareal Author, Speaker, Coach. academia_del_exito@hotmail.com • M. Rubén Campos Arias Writer and Poet. rubencamposa1@hotmail.com • PhD. Juan Manuel San Martín Reyna Principal, Udlap Consultants. juanm.sanmartin@udlap.mx

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• M. Daniela Ekdesman Levi Professor, Writer, Publisher and Cultural Researcher. danielaekle19@gmail.com • M. Carmen Rosas Franco Publisher, Graphic Designer, and Resercher of Narrative in Children’s Literature. cfrancodg@hotmail.com • M. Shannon Hickey Álvarez English Program Coordinator at the American School of Puebla. shannonmaureen@gmail.com • M. Rosalía Juana Genis Velázquez Professor at the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla. rogeve_07@yahoo.com.mx

Rosalía Genis Velázquez

A WOMAN A woman with a bag A woman with a bag on the street A woman with a bag on the street, crying A woman with a bag on the street, raining A woman with a bag on the street, crying, raining Who, what hatched your season?

T

“Building new hope”

he non-profit organization Entre Culturas: unity through education, culture and human rights, promotes rural development and social integration year after year. It aims to consolidate ethical principles, family integration, unification in a socially responsible culture and entrepreneurship as means for developing local By these means Entre Culturas has achieved a large-scale social organization project that provides cultural education, education development, human

rights and principles that can impact the surrounding environments.

The organization encourages quality education for minorities through organized participation in social action groups that generate resources and better their life conditions. A fundamental belief is that cultural education and whole-person development can transform education in Mexico.

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Man that I know who know me Cacahuazintle Volcano black In the shape of a bronzed popcorn peak Ancentral lover, you feed me, I grow from you.

Dark, thin native type

Nourish me Improved native type Improve me As lovers are bettered when they love each other.

Dark, thick native type Keep guiding your teocalli And our destinies.

www.mexicointercultural.org