Every culture has a holiday dedicated to the arrival of the new year. There is one occasion, but the ways of celebrating it and traditions are different – in every country, every people they have their own. In the new “Point of View,” experts talked about the emergence of this holiday in Russia and other countries of the world, about its philosophy, and about how our economic behavior is changing during the New Year holidays.
Philosopher and culturologist about the history of the holiday and its philosophical significance
Maria Mitrokhina , philosopher and cultural scientist, teacher at the Department of Theory of Culture, Ethics and Aesthetics at the Institute of Philosophy and Socio-Political Sciences of Southern Federal University, spoke about the history of New Year celebrations in Russia and other countries and about the philosophical meaning of this holiday.
The speaker noted that we owe the tradition of starting the year on the first of January to Julius Caesar, the famous ancient Roman ruler and commander. In 45 BC. he set this date as a starting point, and we later got the Julian calendar, named after him. In Russia, this calendar is called the “old style”; the country lived according to it until the October Revolution.
New Year celebrations also began in Ancient Rome. Then the first day of the year was associated with the two-faced god Janus: one of his faces looked into the future, and the other into the past. It is interesting that the tradition of decorating a festive tree came to us from Celtic and Germanic rituals of that distant period. However, not all nations celebrate the New Year on January 1:
“Many peoples who have strong traditions and cultural continuity between generations since ancient times associate the onset of the new year with the end of winter and the awakening of nature. On the day of the vernal equinox, March 21, Iraq, Pakistan, and the republics of Central Asia enter the New Year. India joins on March 22. It is interesting that in Ancient Rus’ the New Year was celebrated on the same day. Chinese New Year is celebrated in February, but is considered a spring holiday,” said Maria Mitrokhina.
The culturologist also spoke about the history of the holiday in our country. Peter 1, while on a diplomatic mission in Western Europe, was inspired by the Christmas and New Year traditions of the Germans: he was especially impressed by the noisy fireworks and festive trees. He approved the beginning of the year according to the Julian calendar in the Russian Empire – January 1, and in 1770 public celebrations took place on Red Square to celebrate the New Year. Under Catherine II, themed balls and luxurious feasts came into use. By the 19th century, the holiday acquired familiar attributes: champagne, decorated fir tree and gifts. But this was a celebration mainly of Christmas, and mainly the nobles could celebrate it widely. However, much changed after the 1917 revolution:
“With the advent of the Bolsheviks, New Year’s and especially Christmas traditions were banned as bourgeois and “priestly” relics. They also transferred the country to the most advanced Gregorian calendar, to the “new style”, a by-product of which was the Old New Year. Only in the 30s was the New Year returned to people at the official level and said goodbye to any religious component. However, it was during the Soviet period that it became a national holiday: with Father Frost, Olivier salad and a solemn address from the head of state. Now we are largely repeating the traditions born in the USSR,” noted Maria Mitrokhina.
Maria Mitrokhina told where the modern culture of celebrating the New Year in our country comes from. In many ways, our celebration now is a copy of Western European Christmas traditions. In the USA they were brought to commercially attractive and replicable images:
“The iconic figure of Santa Claus in a red and white suit was created during a Coca-Cola advertising campaign in the 1930s. Thanks to globalization, the attributes of Christmas – a coniferous tree in elegant decoration, the exchange of gifts, an evening feast with the family and Father Christmas – have in one way or another spread throughout the world in external form. In our country, all this was mixed with Soviet traditions, and since the 90s, it acquired an animal mascot for the coming year according to the Chinese calendar,” the expert explained.
Therefore, the modern culture of the holiday is secular, but has its roots in a religious basis, which, in turn, is superimposed on pagan origins.
The speaker spoke about the origin of some of the symbols of the holiday and their meaning. Thus, the familiar New Year’s tree in Germany goes back to the archetypal images of the universal tree, which was revered in pagan times, and the tree of paradise, which appeared in the process of Christian mysteries – theatrical performances in the Middle Ages. And Santa Claus is Saint Nicholas, or Nicholas the Wonderworker, revered in Orthodoxy, who helped the disadvantaged, especially children. It is believed that the tradition of hanging socks for sweet gifts is associated with a story from the life of St. Nicholas – he secretly threw a bag of money to a needy man and ended up in a stocking hanging near the window.
“The domestic Father Frost has absorbed the features of both a pagan and a Christian character. From Slavic folklore he got his name and the ability to control the cold, communicate with forest animals, from St. Nicholas the Wonderworker – a kind attitude towards children and, in fact, the habit of giving gifts to good children,” sums up Maria Mitrokhina.
Maria Mitrokhina, from the point of view of a philosopher, spoke about the philosophy of the holiday and the meaning of this philosophy in our lives.
According to the expert, the meaning of the holiday is renewal, the cycle of life, which is associated with spring, and death, respectively, with winter. Even in pagan cultures, people performed rituals with the help of which they said goodbye to the old and prepared for the new. Many cultures reflect the idea of the cyclical nature of life; most often it is associated with natural cycles. The Chinese lunar calendar, for example, covers a 12-year period, with each year having its own patron animal. And for the European tradition, round dates or turns of centuries are especially exciting:
“They are associated with dramatic changes in human existence or even the end of the world. This attitude is due to the so-called eschatological myths and concepts that describe the Apocalypse, an example of which is the Revelation of John the Theologian. Therefore, on the last night of the old year, it is customary to take stock and remember the best moments, to reflect on oneself and what has been done,” the expert explained.
The speaker noted that, in principle, discrete segments are more convenient for our consciousness. The cyclical concept of the time of existence of society and the Cosmos has been known to us since antiquity, from the works of Heraclitus, Plato and Aristotle, and it is also presented in Indian philosophy. With the spread of Christianity came the understanding of history as a linear and continuous process. The movement of life was interpreted as progress. But when Europeans became more familiar with Asian ideas about the world, ideas of cyclicality began to return to culture. Thus, the ideas of repetition and regularity of historical stages appeared in N.Ya. Danilevsky, O. Spengler, A. Toynbee and others. These cycles resembled life and its successive stages – from childhood to adulthood, the change of generations. At the same time, the spiral concept arose; you can read about it, for example, in Hegel. Thanks to the ersity of views on the cyclical nature of life and history, we can now choose the one that best reflects our views on life and world order.
The expert also explained why a person often tries to postpone any changes until Monday or New Year. According to Maria Mitrokhina, sometimes this can be caused by procrastination, which in itself is not just laziness, but a symptom that a person is either internally not ready for changes, has not conceptualized them as his own need, or does not yet have the resources. Perhaps, somewhere in the unconscious, the belief in the “special mystical power” of the beginning of the week or year has been preserved, referring us back to the same pagan rituals of purification.
“As our famous compatriot S. Spielrein stated, without destroying the old it is impossible to build a new one, and the very dynamics of personality are unimaginable. And the process of breaking the usual pattern of life can be painful and require effort, which is why it is postponed to a distant date or to a “beautiful” date. But an existential crisis cannot wait, therefore, sooner or later the awareness of the brevity of life and the value of time comes. Then the priorities fall into place,” concluded Maria Mitrokhina.
Economist on changes in the economic behavior of Russians during the New Year holidays
Elena Fursa, Ph.D., Associate Professor of the Department of Economic Theory, spoke about changes in the economic behavior of Russians on the eve of the New Year holidays and what patterns can be identified in it.
The expert said that the last ten days of December are traditionally accompanied by New Year’s excitement. As an example, the economist analyzed the consumer spending study “New Year and Christmas – 2022”, which has been conducted by Deloitte for 15 years in a row in Russia. According to it, almost half of the population (46%) plans to purchase New Year’s gifts in the second half of December; later purchases may be associated with the period of New Year’s bonuses.
https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/ru/Documents/consumer-business/russian/ny-spending-survey-2022.pdf https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte /ru/Documents/consumer-business/russian/ny-spending-survey-2022.pdf
Typically, people time major purchases to coincide with “red calendar dates” and plan their financing in advance. In addition, New Year’s celebrations are one of the most favorite holidays, when people try to gather a rich table and please their loved ones and friends with gifts.
“Purchases for the festive table increase the turnover of retail chains by 20-50%. Shopping centers break revenue records during the New Year holidays. They deliberately attract as many visitors as possible by organizing sales, exhibitions and entertainment events. Large shopping complexes are extending their opening hours and putting twice as many employees on shifts so that they have time to serve all customers. Attendance at shopping centers during the New Year grows by about a quarter,” noted Elena Fursa .
The speaker emphasized that, according to the New Year and Christmas 2022 consumer spending study, the average New Year’s budget in 2021 will be 27,500 rubles. The structure of the New Year’s budget will remain virtually unchanged since last year – almost half (44%) of the funds will be spent on gifts, slightly less (42%) on food and drinks, 14% on entertainment. The study showed an interesting fact – women go shopping more often and plan their budget less effectively. Among men, 41% adhere to their planned spending, and among women – only 35%.
For almost half of Russians (43%), income growth remains the main reason that allows them to spend more money on the New Year holidays. 30% of respondents are willing to increase spending during promotions and offers from retail stores. The role of shares has increased significantly compared to last year – by 8%. Another interesting fact: 15% of respondents noted that they would spend more because they were trying to enjoy life and not think about the instability of the economy.
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“The holiday shopping frenzy is followed by a natural period of calm, a break when the population is reluctant to make new purchases and does not plan to seriously spend money in the near future. Demand in the market for goods and services after the New Year holidays may fall by 15% or by 2-3 times,” said Elena Fursa .
The expert also spoke about the economic losses during the long New Year’s weekend. According to calculations by economists and financial analysts at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation in 2020, the losses of the Russian economy during the long New Year holidays amounted to more than 1 trillion. rubles is 1.5% of the country’s GDP. Each day of rest is estimated at approximately 150 billion rubles. This is due to the fact that more than 50% of organizations are closed on New Year’s holidays, and continuous-cycle production facilities operate in a limited mode. Losses are formed mainly due to downtime of manufacturing industries; the most serious losses are suffered by the mining sector, as well as heavy industry enterprises.
However, the negative macroeconomic effect of the holiday period is largely compensated by the increase in consumer demand from the population, which may further lead to an acceleration of output volumes in the post-holiday period. An increase in revenue is demonstrated by all industries related to leisure and entertainment. During the January holidays, cinemas, shopping centers, museums, theaters and other entertainment venues are open. Long holidays create an incentive for the development of retail retail, which is characterized by sales growth of up to 20-50%. In addition, sales of tourism services, air and railway transportation are increasing, and the restaurant business is also showing an increase in revenue.
“It should be noted that long New Year holidays help reduce the level of negative perception by the population of modern economic realities. After rest, the population has new strength for further work, which has a positive effect on long-term changes in the economy. According to the research of the Russian philosopher and cultural scientist M.M. Bakhtin: “Celebration is a very important primary form of human culture. It cannot be derived and explained from the practical conditions and goals of social labor, or an even more vulgar form of explanation is from the biological (physiological) need for periodic rest,” summarized Elena Fursa .
The expert also spoke about the Russian gift market, how it was formed and what it is now. Thus, the gift market in Russia began to form in the early nineties of the 20th century; it was spontaneous in nature and represented mainly the import of foreign gift goods.
At the moment, the Russian gift market has already formed entire networks of specialized stores; competition between sellers is high, since the offer of goods is very erse. One of the dominant trends in the gift market in Russia is the growth of consumer demand during the New Year holidays and increased requirements for the quality and design of gift products.
Interestingly, there is an increase in the capacity of the gift market in value terms. Recently, the market for unusual, personalized gifts, made to order, in a single copy for an inidual buyer, has been developing; there is a trend towards natural, exclusive and expensive things.
According to the international consumer spending study “New Year and Christmas – 2022” by Deloitte, in 2021, 38% of Russians are ready to spend up to 5,000 rubles on New Year’s gifts, 15% – from 5,000 to 10,000 rubles, 37% – over 10,000 rubles, 10% do not plan to give gifts.
More than half (53%) of Russians want to receive money as a gift, with more women (57%) than men (48%). In second place for men are smart accessories, and for women – cosmetics and perfumes. But contrary to these desires, 36% of Russians will give cosmetics, 34% – candy, and only 22% – money.
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In 2021, about half of all gifts will be purchased from online stores – 47% (38% in 2020). At the same time, the share of respondents over 55 years of age purchasing goods in an online store with home delivery increased to 45% (28% in 2020). Offline stores also do not lose their relevance, as they allow you to instantly purchase goods, enjoy shopping, provide after-sales service, the ability to quickly exchange/return goods, and protect personal information.
Authors: Daniil Skryagin and Anastasia Dashevskaya