Inte som andra jular: Kreativa lösningar och corona-anpassade traditioner

Sammendrag

This article analyzes how Christmas celebrations are described in diaries, written around Christmas 2020. Three aspects of the Christmas celebrations are investigated; firstly, how they are demarcated in time and space, secondly, the importance of food and decorations such as the Christmas tree, and thirdly the social community and the feelings it creates. In this study, the Christmas celebrations created in the diaries are regarded as expressions of traditions, processes where the past is used and recreated in the present with the purpose of maintaining social relationships and feelings of belonging and thankfulness. The article concludes that in the diaries a Christmas composed of cooking, decorating and social interaction with relatives is depicted. The diary writers show creativity and ingenuity when it comes to maintaining and recreating traditions, while at the same time creating possibilities for meetings and social interaction, despite the special situation during the Corona pandemic. Future research can tell whether any of these adjustments of the celebrations will remain or not.