“Scavenger Hunt”, the well known children’s film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, could give, without much exaggeration, the perfect definition of what is happening now in Romania, before the winter holidays. Has the spirit of Christmas been persevered unaltered in the contemporary Romanian society, or not? Are there regions where old traditions are still kept alive?
Vera Romaniuc, the director of the Traditional Customs Museum in Gura Humorului, Bukovina, North-Eastern Romania will give us an answer:
“If we talk about winter customs, especially around the grand holiday of Christmas, Bukovina has preserved traditions very well. If we refer to repertoire, we have to draw a distinction between the rural and the urban world. In villages, traditions have been preserved better, there some priests and teachers, by their own initiative try to preserve real traditions, and are successful. In villages there are many groups of carollers who try to learn the traditional characteristics of their region. On the contrary, in cities there are bands of kids who do not go caroling for the entire community, but only at homes in their immediate vicinity, and whose repertoire is heavily polluted with urban folk music and carols from other cultural areas, plus they go carolling only to get money”.
Old Christmas traditions have been preserved in rural areas, and they involve very small amounts of money. On the other hand, in cities consumption peaks around the holidays, which is blatantly obvious in large stores and supermarkets. Andreea Mihai, marketing director with a French supermarket chain with many outlets in Romania, told us:
“As a l rule, the last month of the year, the month of presents, as we call it, has 50% more retail sales compared to any other month of the year. In the middle of an economic crisis, Romanians have still not got skimpish on presents for their loved ones and their holiday meals, but they have got more careful. They come to stores with a shopping list, they don’t impulse buy any more, they measure their funds carefully, and buy within their budget. They don’t buy what they can’t consume any more”.
This statement is confirmed by a recent report from Deloitte on consumer trends around the winter holidays called “Christmas 2009 – Is it time for economic recovery?” According to the report, the consumer behavior of Romanians around the holidays can be described as prudent: 45% of Romanians said they would control their impulse purchases, and 68% will go for useful presents. In the top 10 presents Romanians prefer, which was a part of the survey, the three top places were taken by cosmetics or perfumes, clothing or footwear, and third, by jewelry and watches. As to Romanians’ preferences in terms of presents, Andreea Mihai said”.
“More than in other years, Romanians buy textiles. In the past, they would buy more electric household appliances. They currently buy textile presents such as scarves, bags, blouses. Certainly, as every year, season foodstuffs are the stars of sales , like chocolate, wine, pound cakes and of course, Christmas decorations, hand-made Christmas trees and so on”.
Indeed, Christmas has become more of a consumerist celebration, and less a religious one. People are more concerned with rituals such as adorning the Christmas tree, giving gifts and the coming of Santa Claus, rather than with the true religious symbols that usually go with such a celebration Sociologist Raluca Popescu will give an explanation for such a change.
“We are stimulated a lot to consume more during this time of the year. There are a lot of surveys revealing that the end of the year is the time when we consume the most. Discounts are made everywhere; there are new products, products on offer, prompting us to behave accordingly. We are literally assaulted by advertising campaigns. “
So we are the victims of the consumerist age we live in, but the situation is not that bad. Raluca Popescu again.
"Moreover, Christmas is the time when we go to church more often. So we cannot say for sure we lost our religious behavior in favour of the consumerist one. Quite the contrary, we are more religious than other people from Europe. Surveys show that people go to church more often at this time of the year. Also, this is the time when people carry out charity activities, when people usually give a hand to those in need. After all Christmas is a celebration of solidarity. Traditions and customs this time of the year reiterate the solidarity and unity of the family, of the community, of society in general. “
In the long run, traditions are a living phenomenon, they change, develop, adapt to the social context. And if the spirit of Christmas stays the same, that is the most important thing for all of us!
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2010-09-06
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