Unwrapping Christmas (Oxford Studies in Social & Cultural Anthropology: Cultural Forms) - Tapa dura

In an age of secularization and the decline of ritual, Christmas has emerged as the most promising candidate for the first global festival, celebrated not only in the Christian West, but in many countries with either a minority or no Christian population. How is it that Christmas is not merely surviving, but actually gaining in importance? This book provides the first comparative study of the Christmas phenomenon, based on direct observation of how the festival is actually celebrated in diverse social contexts. It begins with some general theories of Christmas, including the first full English translation of "Father Christmas Executed" by Claude Levi-Strauss, and then focuses on two controversial issues. First, the relationship between Christmas and materialism is examined and interpreted in the United States, Japan and Trinidad. The second theme is the debate over the place of the family in Christmas celebrations; this section ranges from discussion of quarrels and tensions sparked off by the festival to a study of a deliberately anti-nuclear family Christmas, and examines evidence from Sweden, Britain and the Inupiat of Alaska.

About the Author: Daniel Miller is Reader in Anthropology at University College in London. He is the author of Artifacts and Categories and Material Culture and Mass COnsumption.