Tidsskrift for Kulturforskning (Dec 2023)
Inn i vårt mørke hus
Abstract
Lucia celebrations on the 13th of December in the shape we now know them were introduced to Norway in the middle of the 20th century, from Sweden. This article explores how the introduction, dissemination and eventual traditionalization of Lucia celebrations as customary and common started. In 1978, the Norwegian tradition archive Norsk etnologisk gransking sent out a questionnaire asking if and how people were doing Lucia processions. The article investigates the answers to this questionnaire and connects them to newspaper articles up to the same year. Together, this gives insight into the reluctance and confusion, but also the resourcefulness and enthusiasm of the general public when a tradition is not yet established. The data show that in 1978, certain elements to the celebrations that we now take for granted were not yet fixed. For instance, the date and timing of the Lucia processions varied. Other elements, such as the white dresses and the candles, were present from the start.
