I currently live in a country which visibly takes note of Christmas despite a less than one per cent Christian population. People can celebrate whatever they want! But it's striking, and what is more striking is the one-way nature of the exchange.
It's worth noting, though, that Christmas in said country has been transformed from a holiday that is ostensibly religious in nature to a holiday that is closer to Valentine's Day than anything else. Christmas cakes in particular have near-explicit connections to dating and coupledom -- the whole derogatory concept of calling a single woman in her mid-twenties a 'Christmas cake' (because no one wants them after the 25th) shows this pretty clearly.
I agree that it's a one-way exchange. You don't see people in the West sending nengajou at New Year's, for instance (though I did so one year, and enjoyed it). But there are times when it's a little hard to tell if there's a line where cultural colonialism stops and cultural adaptation/appropriation begins, and I think that in the past few
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Oh, toooooootally, and it's not the best example because Japan definitely does it in a very... appropriative way. But that line is shaky between colonialism and appropriation, and I think most places where I would point out colonialism would be considered more appropriative by the people who actually do it (because I think you need to conceive of your own culture as weak and unable to respond to outside threats in order to identify something as colonial, and I don't think many people do that - and in fact there is a point when identifying something as HIDEOUS COLONIALISM WHICH WE SHOULD PROTECT PEOPLE FROM is slightly colonial in its own way).
So it's mostly that Christmas is imminent which made that the example I reached for, and its mostly the lack of a two-way exchange which makes it colonial in flavour, rather than just cultural exchange.
Running to work in five minutes, so typed this in a rush - hope it makes sense!
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It's worth noting, though, that Christmas in said country has been transformed from a holiday that is ostensibly religious in nature to a holiday that is closer to Valentine's Day than anything else. Christmas cakes in particular have near-explicit connections to dating and coupledom -- the whole derogatory concept of calling a single woman in her mid-twenties a 'Christmas cake' (because no one wants them after the 25th) shows this pretty clearly.
I agree that it's a one-way exchange. You don't see people in the West sending nengajou at New Year's, for instance (though I did so one year, and enjoyed it). But there are times when it's a little hard to tell if there's a line where cultural colonialism stops and cultural adaptation/appropriation begins, and I think that in the past few ( ... )
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So it's mostly that Christmas is imminent which made that the example I reached for, and its mostly the lack of a two-way exchange which makes it colonial in flavour, rather than just cultural exchange.
Running to work in five minutes, so typed this in a rush - hope it makes sense!
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