ARTICLES ARCHIVE
Art Critique: The Magic of the Mythic Montreal Canadiens by Alex Hadley
One thing is for sure: if you die a Montrealer without ever having been to a Canadiens game, you will have missed out on the eighth wonder of the world. On a night where the men sporting the “Bleu blanc et rouge” looked faster, more prepared, and more poised than their opposition, they fell to a youthful and opportunistic Toronto Maple Leafs team by a score of 3 to 1 in their fourth game of the 2023-24 NHL preseason. Although the end result was deflating, this critique will examine how the atmosphere and on-ice product compare to a televised viewing of a Leafs game, and it will pinpoint what makes a Habs game anything but disappointing.
A Psychoanalytic Reading of Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver by Clara Frey
Taxi Driver, written by Paul Schreber and directed by Martin Scorsese, is a neo-noir thriller that hit American box offices on February 2nd, 1976. Released just a year after the United States pulled out of the war in Vietnam, the film reflects the political and societal instability of America in the 1970s and its repercussions on the psyche of one of its veterans. In 1970s America, crime was on the rise, and the trauma of a war that many veterans…
The Proto-Indo-European Origins of Mélusine by Christopher Boa
Beyond the scope of bedtime stories and fantastical literature, the likes of faeries and other mythical creatures are seldom invoked in contemporary contexts. In spite of this, there exists one such being who links concepts as modern as the Royal Family of Luxembourg, the Starbucks® Logo, and the de jure Canadian Head of State: she is Mélusine, the medieval ancestor to – and fabled guardian of – the Poitevin House of Lusignan. Mélusine’s widespread influence on occidental architecture as well…
How Cultural Barriers are Overcome in Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring by Christopher Boa
At the onset of the 1920s in England, a freshly graduated English Literature major, J. R. R. Tolkien, had just served four years and a day fighting in the deadliest war of his time, a consequence of the volatile borders and geopolitical alliances of early 20th century Europe. There is little doubt that Tolkien’s passion for philology, his fascination with different cultures, and his experiences witnessing the sheer atrocities spawned by diplomatic conflicts had an impact on the narrative of his eventual literary masterpiece The Lord of the Rings. Through his elaborate construction of the geopolitics, legends, and languages of several mythological peoples in The Fellowship of the Ring, the author demonstrates how xenophobia is embedded within one’s learned culture and how the very differences that divide humanity are also the key to mutual understanding.
Frankenstein: A Tale of Humanity, the Monster, the Other, and the Mirror by Angélique Babineau
Frankenstein, as registered in Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s work “Monster Culture (Seven Theses),” affirms that monsters are a product of culture. Monsters are not about differences; they are mirrors. They reflect our worst fears and desires and, whether we are ready to accept it or not, we are monster-makers creating extensions of ourselves, as the Creature is of Victor.
Reconciliation’s Unconcluded Epilogue in Five Little Indians by Sarah Orejuela
Indeed, Good’s paradoxical placing of an epilogue in Five Little Indians’ “Prologue” foreshadows the initial process of closure on the lasting impacts of the Canadian Indian residential school system on Indigenous students and their families.
Expectations and Emotions in Catherine Chandler’s “Coming to Terms” by Emilie Exler
Through her approach to the Shakespearean sonnet form, as well as her use of juxtaposition and rich connotative language, Chandler brings awareness to readers about the emotional and psychological impacts of miscarriage while criticizing the harsh expectations put on grieving mothers to quickly heal from their trauma.