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 marketplaceæthe 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 concernæthe 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
paradigmsæsuch as the myth of the eternal return and considerations
of sacred timeæin 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
