‘This is an absorbing collection of essays, and it makes an impressive job of introducing ideological issues in an accessible way. © Bob Beckerer/White Rock Collectors AssociationĮdinburgh University Press 22 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9LF Christmas, Ideology and Popular Culture offers students and scholars alike an opportunity to explore the hidden agendas of the world’s most popular festival and what it means to the outsider looking in.Ĭover image: DecemLife Magazine White Rock Santa Ad. Packed with examples ranging from Charles Dickens’ seminal text, A Christmas Carol, Coca-colonisation and Santa Claus, Victorian cartoons and Christmas cards, to Dr Who, The Office, ‘A Fairy Tale of New York’, ‘Happy Christmas (War is Over)’, and such dystopian films as Jingle All the Way and All I Want For Christmas, the case studies offer an incisive account of the ways in which Christmas relates to social change, and how such recent events as 9/11 and the continuing conflict in Iraq focus attention on traditional themes of community and family.
Sheila Whiteley is Visiting Professor (Media) at the University of Brighton and author of Women and Popular Music (2000) and Too Much Too Young: Popular Music, Age and Gender (2005), editor of Sexing the Groove: Popular Music and Gender (1997) and co-editor of Queering the Popular Pitch (2006). Chapters explore the ways in which the production of meaning is mediated by the social and cultural activities surrounding Christmas (watching Christmas films, television, listening or engaging with popular music and carols), its relationship to a set of basic values (the idealised construct of the family), social relationships (community), and the ways in which ideological discourses are used and mobilised, not least in times of conflict, terrorism and war.
It explores the cultural, social and historical contexts of Christmas in the UK, USA and Australia, covering such topics as fiction, film, television, art, newspapers and magazines, war, popular music and carols. HOW DO WE UNDERSTAND CHRISTMAS? WHAT DOES IT MEAN? This book is a lively introduction to the study of popular culture through one central case study. Moreover, the historical perspective throws significant light on the ongoing changing nature of the performance of such significant events in the contemporary world.’ Professor Brian Longhurst, University of Salford In particular it demonstrates the value of sustained attention to various forms of media and popular culture, including music, visual culture and cinema in the constitution and reconstitution of Christmas. ‘This book represents an excellent addition to the literature on Christmas and Festivals.