deChant, Dell. Cleveland, OH: Pilgrim Press, 2002. 224 pp. $21.00
(USD). ISBN: 08289814965.
[1] Covering a range of theory in four three-chapter sections, deChant
analyzes postmodern society, concluding that, because consumer culture
is religious, Santa is sacred. He examines the complaint, common among
contemporary Christians in the United States, of the supposed degeneration
of Christmas into a thoroughly secularized, non-Christian, and therefore,
non-religious event. DeChant argues that the underlying reality is
a contention not between Christianity and the non-religious contemporary
culture, but between Christianity and the religion of consumer culture.
Thus, he posits, "The loss of Christian religious content in Christmas
may actually be the consequence of Christianity's failure to successfully
compete in another sort of marketplaceÜthe marketplace of religion
itself" (2) in a way that focuses on contemporary culture's inherent
religiosity through the vehicle of economics. Using an approach derived
from Paul Tillich, deChant introduces his work as a postmodern theology
of culture through a reappraisal of the secularization thesis.
[2] With this foundation, deChant begins the first section of The
Sacred Santa by defining religion. Using the Tillich-derived concept
of ultimate concern, he arrives at a four part description of religion
as "a belief that the ultimate truth and meaning of human life is
derived from and related to an order and purpose based on or decreed
by the ultimate (sacred) power" (9). This belief is shared by a community,
is maintained through myths and rituals, and gives believers a degree
of power over material conditions. In line with many studies of popular
culture as religion, deChant takes strides to clarify what religion
is. His description is illustrative and remains as a backdrop throughout
the text. However, deChant fails explicitly to connect examples back
to this description; instead of vivifying just how consumer culture
fulfills ultimate concerns, he presents it as part of the culture's
dharma-like taken-for-granted reality. Part of this emerges because
of what deChant finds central to cosmological religiosity; the conceptualization
of the sacred not as a transcendent "other," but most fundamentally
as the culture's way of life. In this regard, The Sacred Santa
toes a Durkheimian line. Yet, deChant keeps theoretical material succinct,
and excels at synthesizing the theories of, among others, Voegelin,
Ellul, Baudrillard, Jameson, and Eliade.
[3] DeChant is not content simply to address the theoretical basis
he finds in the aforementioned thinkers with checklist-like affirmations
or refutations. Instead he uses existing scholarship as a building
block for his study in a way that yields a critical examination of
postmodern culture irreducibly contextualized in religious studies.
As such, Part II presents categorizations of myths, rituals, and the
ethic of consumption. In his treatment of postmodern myths, deChant
devises a three-part system that includes the "meta-myth," or "the
sacred narrative of success and affluence" (53); the "secondary myth,"
or the myth in which "stories of our sacred beings exemplify the right
relationship with our concept of ultimate concernÜthe economy" (57);
and "tertiary myths," the advertisements that "bring us each and all
into closest proximity to the meta-myth, making it personal, least
mediated, and most vital to our existence" (63). DeChant then connects
these myths to postmodern rituals and associated religious professionals.
With something of a whimsical touch, he addresses the ritual of acquisition
as part of his triad acquisition-consumption-disposition cycle of
consumption in which "the climax of the ritual, from the standpoint
of worshipers, occurs when the desired product is acquired and the
process of consumption initiated" (71), replete with shamanistic salespersons
and priestly clerks, cashiers, and store managers all ritually invigorating
the sacred department store or mall site.
[4] To buttress these considerations, deChant uses his third section
to delineate elements of the so-called "postmodern liturgical calendar."
Here, he includes a survey of Christmas-related literature that addresses,
among others, Richard Horsley and James Tracy's condemnation of consumer
culture in Christmas Unwrapped and Robert Bellah's endorsement
thereof in a way that not only sets The Sacred Santa apart,
but also shows divergent methods for exploring the subject. From here,
deChant sets about analyzing postmodern "Holy Days" using a combination
of Berger- and Eliade-derived paradigmsÜsuch as the myth of the eternal
return and considerations of sacred timeÜin a way the yields a postmodern
liturgical year of Major, Secondary, and Minor Holy Days.
[5] By itself, none of these elements makes for a particularly insightful
study until deChant introduces economic theory and data to bolster
his line of argumentation. He uses and builds on the work of Juliet
B. Schor, agreeing that contemporary American culture is one of excessive
consumption. However, he goes beyond this and asserts that "we are
up against gods and sacred forces, dharmic duties and religious energies
as inevitable as the seasons and the coming of night" (94), and stresses
that citizens of late-capitalist, postmodern culture are religiously
compelled to consume. DeChant provides hard data from the Bank of
Tokyo-Mitsubishi and USB Warburg Weekly Chain Store Index, along with
the United States Census Bureau Monthly Retail Trade Survey, to demonstrate
empirically his points. In addition to engaging the numbers and their
meanings in the body of the text, he provides three appendices to
further illustrate what the economic data reveal and how they are
methodologically deployed.
[6] With all of this as groundwork, deChant comes to his final chapter
portraying the "apotheosis" of Santa Claus as the capstone of the
text. With a certain literary intonation, he presents a history of
Santa Claus, unpacking origins and parallels, concluding that "he
is the embodiment of our culture's greatest religious myth: the myth
of success and affluence, right engagement with the economy, and the
acquisition and consumption of images and objects" (194) in eternal-return-like
fashion. If nothing else, The Sacred Santa is a good read that
stylistically presents theory, data, and reflection in a serious manner
that belies the text's readability.
Frank Ferreri
University of South Florida
Tampa, Florida
fferreri@mail.usf.edu
