Christmas: An anthropological lens
Open Access
- 1 December 2017
- journal article
- Published by University of Chicago Press in HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory
- Vol. 7 (3), 409-442
- https://doi.org/10.14318/hau7.3.027
Abstract
Why does the festival of Christmas appear to be expanding worldwide while other festivals decline? Why do people emphasize their local rituals, given this is a global festival? Is this a religious festival whose values have been destroyed by materialism? What is the relationship between this family celebratory meal and the divine family to which it pays obeisance? These seemed to be questions that lent themselves to an anthropological perspective. For this reason in 1993 I brought together an edited volume Unwrapping Christmas, which was published by Oxford University Press. For that collection I also obtained permission from Claude Lévi-Strauss to include the first translation of his paper “Le Pere Noël supplicié.” Subsequently, on request from Suhrkamp Verlag, who had published several of my books in German, I submitted the following manuscript as part of their launch of a series of more popular academic works in a digital edition. This is the first publication of the manuscript in English. Comment se fait-il que Noël semble prendre de l’ampleur dans le monde lorsque les autres festivités sont en déclin? Pourquoi les gens soulignent-ils leurs rituels locaux alors qu’il s’agit d’une fête globale? Est-ce une célébration dont les valeurs ont été détruites par le matérialisme? Quel est le rapport entre ce repas de famille festif et la famille divine à laquelle il rend hommage? Ces questions se prêtent à une analyse anthropologique. C’est pour cette raison qu’en 1993, j’ai dirigé la publication d’un ouvrage intitulé Unwrapping Christmas, publié par l’Oxford University Press. Dans cette collection d’articles, j’avais obtenu la permission de Claude Lévi-Strauss d’inclure la première traduction de l’article “Le Père Noël supplicié.” Par la suite, en réponse à une requête de Suhrkamp Verlag, qui a publié certains de mes ouvrages en allemand, ce manuscrit fit partie du lancement d’une série de publications digitales de travaux universitaires significatifs et accessibles. Ceci est la première publication du manuscrit en anglais.Keywords
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