Browsing by Subject "joulu"

Objectives. Regardless of the era, people have been always celebrating different occasions. Celebration has signified the division of continuously flowing time into ordinary and sacred. At the same time, continual reminiscent rituals have answered the humane need to feel control over life and foresee future. The celebration has also strengthened the social cohesion between the individuals who take part in it. Christmas is a celebration that intensely influences the whole society time and again. Even though Christmas seems to have stayed unchanged throughout the centuries, closer analysis reveals that there can be seen different layers from different parts of history. It contains elements from pre-Christian times, medieval peasant traditions, and 1900th century familial. There is substantial amount of literary about Christmas but very little recent academic research on this subject. The purpose of this study is to examine how Christmas is celebrated in contemporary families and what kind of meanings are connected to it. Through these meanings, it can be understood why Christmas is celebrated. Methods. The research material for this study was collected with essays. Before the essay itself, there was a small priming quantitative part. Parents who had at least one child of primary school age acted as informant. In this study, the methods of content analysis were applied. After this, the synthesis on which all the conclusions are based was formed. Results and conclusions. The preparations for Christmas and Christmas Eve itself form the structured part of Christmas. This part moves forward as chronological and predictable chain of events. In the descriptions of Christmas Eve, same elements are repeated nearly in the same order. From these descriptions, a story which connects all the writings can be formed. This kind of story can also be called narrative. After this programmed part, the form of the celebration turns into casual and there is time for those things which are experienced as the most paramount meaning of Christmas – resting and being together with the closed ones. From the descriptions of Christmas, all the functions of celebration can be found. It divided time, strengthened the bonds towards own community, and its repetitive pattern provided safety. From this point of view, it is not surprising that Christmas has maintained its vitality regardless of societal situation.