Holidays 1010a. 'The Meaning of Christmas'

You can always count on Harvard professors for a scholarly theory and a short lecture on any subject you care to think of Christmas is no exception, here, paraphrased from professors' remarks, is a department-by-department analysis of the holiday's meaning.

ANTHROPOLOGY

Jane I. Guyer

The anthropologist Richard Lee has described an unusual Christmas in a Kung San village in the Kalahari Desert To show his appreciation for the tribe generosity, Lee slaughtered the fattest ox in the neighborhood as a Christmas gift. The Kung responded only with abuse and ridicule, and Lee had to infer that such displays of wealth and superiority are inappropriate. "The interesting thing is the competitive aspect of gift-giving, and that generosity can be interpreted in lots of different ways in different societies."

CELTIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE

Charles W. Dunn

There was once a woman in the mountains of Scotland who was surreptitiously cooking a goose for Christmas Day, a paganistic transgression, when she was visited by the town's Presbyterian minister. Fearing for her reputation, the woman quickly hid the sizzling goose under her bed. Within minutes, the blankets caught fire and revealed her wicked ways.

This tale has been passed along for generations by Gaelic-speaking fundamentalist Scots, who disapprove of the happy spirit of Christmas.

In another Gaelic tradition, the young boys of various villages in Nova Scotia travel each Christmas from house to house collecting contributions for the church. At each home, the group circles around the fire and asks the woman of the house for a donation, blessing her generosity or cursing her miserliness, as the case may be. The practice persists today, with contributions going to the Red Cross.

EAST ASIAN STUDIES

Howard S. Hibbett Jr.

In Japan, many celebrate Christmas as "Kurisumasu." But the holiday is something of a parody of the commercial nature of our Christmas. Rather than staying at home with the family. Japanese celebrants use the day as an occasion to shop at huge Christmas sales, go bar-hopping and have a night on the town.

GOVERNMENT

H. Douglas Price

One aspect of the Christmas season is that it marks the time the national budget is prepared each year. But Labor Day is actually is a busier time for people in the department.

HISTORY

John Brewer

Many of the traditions currently associated with Christmas, such as elaborately decorated Christmas trees and carol-singing, originated in Victorian England. "Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were hot on peddling Christmas."

LINGUISTICS

Annie Zaenen

Inquisitive historical linguists should consult the American Heritage Dictionary, which offers this etymology for "Christmas":

Middle English Cristesmasse, Old English Cristesmaesse: Cristes, genitive of Crist, CHRIST + maesse, MAS.

CHRIST: from Greek Khristos, "the anointed (one)," from khrein, to anoint.

MAS: Old English masse, festival mass, from Late Latin missa, eucharist, possibly deriving from phrases such as Itemissa est, "Go, it is the dismissal."

MUSIC

James D. Yannatos

The birth of a child is symbolic of artistic creation and goes on as long as Man is able to create Man's spirit always wishes to give birth to works of art." Bach's "Christmas Cantata." Handel's Messiah, Corelli's "Christmas Concerto," and Menotti's "Amahl and the Night Visitors" are among the works of music that were inspired by the holiday.

PHILOSOPHY

Martha C. Nussbaum

I was brought up to think of Christmas as a time when Scrooge turns to the poor. But it's not enough to depend on momentary bursts of passion." Christmas should be a time for social legislation, because we need a social structure depending on justice, not varying with the seasons.

PSYCHOLOGY

Sheldon H. White

"For the purposes of the Christmas holiday, people maintain a repertoire of merry-making behavior designed to go off when certain stimult are released, the most notable of which are:

* the combination of red and green colors

* a preponderance of mistletoe

* fat men dressed in red and white

* strange songs about reindeer

"When released into the cultural ear, these stimuli initiate festive tendencies which manifest themselves in actions such as giggling, excessive drinking, and sleeping (which comes about because of the dormative principle). Occasionally these stimuli cause a Scrooge-like behavior which reflects an excessive depressed state.