Al Ridenour

The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas (eBook, ePUB)

Roots and Rebirth of the Folkloric Devil

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

The Krampus, a folkloric devil associated with St. Nicholas in Alpine Austria and Germany, has been embraced by the American counterculture and is lately skewing mainstream. The new Christmas he seems to embody is ironically closer to an ancient understanding of the holiday as a perilous, haunted season. In the Krampus' world, witches rule Christmas, and saints can sometimes kill.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Feral House
• Seitenzahl: 248
• Erscheinungstermin: 12. September 2016
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781627310413
• Artikelnr.: 45486239

Autorenporträt

Al Ridenour: A native of Pasadena, California, Al Ridenour holds BA's in German and English literature, has worked as an author, journalist, animator, and artist, and has been a fixture in the West Coast underground art community since the mid-1990s.

His Krampus research has taken him to the Austrian Alps and Munich, and brought him in contact with cultural anthropologists working in Salzburg and Vienna as well as dozens of members of contemporary European Krampus groups. In 2013, Ridenour co-founded Krampus Los Angeles, an organization that's made the city ground zero for American Krampusmania.

Ridenour has translated and produced the only English-language version of 19th-century Krampus play, written articles, and lectured on the topic at the international Goethe-Institut and elsewhere, and exhibited his Krampus suits at the University of Southern California's Doheny Museum

Inhaltsangabe

Table of Contents
Introduction: The Dead of Winter
Christmas wasn't always a time of peace and domestic coziness. In
German-speaking lands, the Twelve Nights of Christmas were closer to
Halloween.
Chapter 2: Gruß vom Krampus!
How America fell in love with the Krampus. Pop-culture Krampus.
19th-century Krampus postcards, featuring the iconic slogan, "Gruß vom
Krampus," ("Greetings from the Krampus.") Similar figures in North Germany,
Holland, France, etc.
Chapter 2: The Devil at the Door
Firsthand account of the Krampus in Austria. How the Krampus groups
organize and conduct traditional house-visits with St. Nicholas. Details
and history regarding masks and costumes.
Chapter 3: The Beast Pursues his Game
The Krampuslauf ("Krampus run") and modernizing influences. Issues of
traditionalism, violence, alcohol, and gender involved in runs.
Chapter 4: The Church Breeds a Monster
Evolution of the Krampus from devils in medieval mystery plays. The
surprisingly unruly Alpine Nikolausspiele ("Nicholas plays") and parades of
17th-18th century contribute to Krampus practice.
Chapter 5: Frau Perchta, Witches, Ghosts
The witch-goddess Frau Perchta or Frau Holda as folkloric leader of
seasonal horde of lost souls, ghosts, or demons, sometimes called Perchten.
Frau Perchta and her Perchten as forerunners of Krampus custom.
Chapter 6: The Haunted Season
The Krampus' native habitat is the season between St. Martin's Day and
Epiphany haunted by the Nußmärtel ("Nut Martin") a sooty-faced, bearded
character with a whip, the Bärbele, moss- faced crone-like characters
carrying switches on St. Barbara's Day, a "Bloody" St. Thomas and sickle
wielding St. Lucy.
Chapter 7: The Perchten, Ancient Spirits of the Alps?
Perchten are largely indistinguishable from the Krampus but appear during
the Twelve Nights, particularly Epiphany Eve. Perchten runs described,
including oldest in Bad Gastein dating to 1730. A few theories as to why
Perchten do what they do.
Chapter 8: American Krampus: Return of the Old, Dark Christmas
Immigrant Krampus traditions in American backwoods. Krampus' in German
Brazil. American's old, dangerous Christmas