Celebrations : the cult of anniversaries in Europe and the United States today
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Celebrations : the cult of anniversaries in Europe and the United States today
Transaction Publishers, c1991
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Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 177-179) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
In the twentieth century, celebrations of historical anniversaries abounded. There was the bicentennial of the French Revolution, the 150th anniversary of photography, Bach's 300th anniversary, and the 200th anniversary of the American Constitution, to name just a few. Every year hundreds of anniversaries still attract media attention and government investment in ever greater degrees. Deploying an astonishing array of insights, Celebrations explores the causes and consequences of this major phenomenon of our time.As Johnston shows, anniversaries fulfill a number of needs. They provide the kind of experience of regularity across a lifetime that the weekly cycle supplies in daily life. The use of anniversaries for political ends emerged during the French Revolution and expanded to promote nationalism during the nineteenth century, although there are differences in how they are used. Europeans tend to celebrate cultural heroes, while Americans tend to celebrate events. Entire nations exploit anniversaries of founding events in order to promote national identity. Commercially, there are whole industries built around commemoration, and they provide intellectuals an opportunity to take center stage.Using methods of cultural history, sociology, and religious studies, Johnston shows how the cult of anniversaries reflects postmodern concerns. It fills a void left by the disappearance of ideologies and avant-gardes. In an era when there is little consensus about styles or methods, anniversaries allow intellectuals, businesses, and governments to acknowledge and celebrate every nuance of opinion. By suggesting ways to use anniversaries more creatively, this book offers a broad range of insights.
Table of Contents
- One: Cultural Anniversaries and Postmodernism in Western Europe and the United States
- 1: Anniversaries during 1988: Opportunities Seized and Missed
- 2: The Cult of Anniversaries and Rhythms of the Calendar
- 3: National Identity and Its Propagation through Anniversaries
- 4: The Commemoration Industry and the Economic Benefits of Anniversaries
- 5: Courtly Traditions and National Styles of Commemoration
- 6: Humanist Tradition as a Link between Countries and Generations
- 7: Objections to the Cult of Anniversaries
- Two: Anniversaries during the 1990s and Bimillennial Consciousness
- 8: Anniversaries from Ancient Greece and Rome as Harbingers of the Bimillennium
- 9: Christian Anniversaries in a Secular Age
- 10: Beyond Postmodernism: From the Age of Anniversaries to Bimillennial Consciousness
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