Southern Louisiana newspapers and media outlets have been put on notice to shun the words “Fat Tuesday” and use only “Mardi
Gras” when referring to the Tuesday prior to Lent.
The reminder has been duly noted
and will be respected here, especially as we approach Mardi Gras itself,
which will be celebrated
here in Southwest Louisiana and across the state tomorrow.
Word of this distinction came to us
and others in the form of a letter from Warren A. Perrin and Dr. Barry
Ancelet, the former
a lawyer, author and Cajun museum enthusiast and the latter not
only head of the Department of Modern Languages at the University
of Louisiana at Lafayette, but Louisiana’s leading authority on
Cajun culture, music and language. Who better to set the rule
on reference to Mardi Gras?
The two wrote as members of the
Council on Development of French in Louisiana — Perrin is president;
Ancelet, an integral
part of CODOFIL for decades — the state agency that promotes
French in our schools, within our state’s culture and for purposes
of tourism. We should note, too, that our office shares proud
family ties within CODOFIL.
Perrin and Ancelet note in their
letter that “Mardi Gras is an inherently French tradition: it has no
counterpart in the English-speaking
world. The proper translation would be: ‘to eat fat foods on
Tuesday (before Ash Wednesday).’ To improperly translate the
name is to disparage the cultural event.” Well, OK. If it is
important to them, it is important to us.
In making their case for Mardi Gras over Fat Tuesday, the gentlemen cite the 1996 Louisiana Almanac, which says Louisiana
is known internationally for Mardi Gras Day. “The proper name of unique French tradition should be respected,” they write.
Ah, but the 2008-09 edition of the Almanac, in listing Mardi Gras celebrations, notes a list of Louisiana cities that feature
“Fat Tuesday parades.” It may be hard to scrub the Fat Tuesday from this day.
And while Perrin and Ancelet don’t
in their letter link the day’s origins to the Catholic faith, other
sources do. About.com
Catholicism defines “Fat Tuesday as the traditional name for the
day before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. It is commonly
known as Mardi Gras, which is simply Fat Tuesday in French.” Can
we immediately take the Fat Tuesday out of Mardi Gras? Fat
chance.
Still, if Mardi Gras is not only preferred to Fat Tuesday but in fact proper, we as Louisiana people should take the French,
and not the improper translation, to heart.
Mardi Gras it is, this week and forevermore. Got it?
• • •
This editorial was written by a member of the American Press Editorial Board. Its content reflects the collaborative opinion of the Board, whose members include Bobby Dower, Ken Stickney,
Jim Beam, Crystal Stevenson and Donna Price.