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- Title
Stille Nacht: COVID and the Ghost of Christmas 2020.
- Authors
Parker, Murray; Spennemann, Dirk H. R.
- Abstract
Annually, there are between 2500 and 3000 Christmas markets in Germany. While purported to be rooted in century-old tradition, the current concept of the markets, shaped in the 1930s, gradually transformed from primarily mercantile operations to experiential events. The experiential dimension is a collection of visual, auditory, and olfactory components that create a compound sensory response: the 'Christmas atmosphere'. The prevalence of COVID-19 meant that traditional Christmas markets were largely absent from the festive calendar in Germany in 2020, disrupting the usual sensory experiences associated with these events. A review of the online presence showed that augmented markets and virtual reality were subsequently utilized in an attempt to re-create the experience and the ambience of the traditional markets, but had limited interactivity with many of the senses. We explore to what extent these multiple-sensory components may have been lost during the Christmas period of 2020 due to the COVID-19-induced transition from the traditional multisensory live market to a predominantly online experience, and highlight problems which arise through the documentation of such complex intangible heritage.
- Subjects
COVID-19 pandemic; CHRISTMAS marketing; VIRTUAL reality; MERCANTILE system; POPULAR culture
- Publication
Heritage (2571-9408), 2021, Vol 4, Issue 4, p3081
- ISSN
2571-9408
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3390/heritage4040172