Traditional Traditions and Modern Traditions

Tradition? What do we even mean by that, and, why is it the opposite of modern? Obviously, it isn't. The Tradition/Modern dichotomy need to be, and has been, rejected. But somehow, it still seems to apply in everyday life. The thing is, in order to have traditions, we need to start doing something at some point before we can start repeating it and forge a tradition. On the other hand, we need traditions in order to be able to come up with new things, to break with the old, and to be different.Tradition and innovation, what we consider one of the cornerstones of modernity, are not at all seperate but depend on eachother in every way. 

Now, I can go on for paragraphs and paragraphs about the interconnectedness of modernity and tradition, but that's not really my point. Instead, if you want to better understand what I am rambling on about, read (the introduction, at least) James Ferguson's "Expectations of Modernity" and you might start to understand that Anthropology is not really about finding answers to anything, but about nuancing theories until one becomes equal to two, and a circle is really a square, only different. 

So, Tradition = Modernity. Or something like it. 

Sinterklaas. It's an old Dutch tradition based on the Patron Saint of Children, who is celebrated on the 6th of December. Originally a Greek Bishop from Turkey, he has been reduced mostly to a white man with a long grey beard that rides a white horse over the roof tops and brings presents who lives in Spain. He still wears his red bishop robes, but he is not associated so much with the church anymore, but rather with happiness, full moons and wind blowing through trees, presents in shoes and his merry helpers "Zwart Piet" (Black Peter). 

In recent years, with increased immigration and the multi-cultural Ducth population, these black Peters are more and more often discussed in the public sphere. Some say Sinterklaas is a racist holiday because the black Peters are slaves (granted, they do have red lips, afro-hairdos and gold earrings), others claim the Peter's are black from the soot in chimneys because they climb up and down so many to bring presents. In fact, the term "Zwarte Piet" used to mean evil doeër in general back in the Middle Ages (like Black Sheep in English?) and didn't become racially loaded until the 19th century, which is also when the Steamboat, the horse on the rooftops and the songs were invented. 

Although these racial connotations can still be heard in the songs, which are still widely sung today, they are no longer prevalent whatsoever, and not noticed by adults unless pointed out, let alone children. I don't think Sinterklaas or the Zwarte Pieten are something we as a multi-cultural society need to worry about in terms of racism and slavery. If anything, the holiday has become so commercialized that we should worry about out children's capitalist upbringings. Few children still worry about the consequences of behaving badly when the holiday comes nearer. They seem to leanr quickly enough that no matter what they do, they still get presents, and if not, they'll notice when the class bully doesn't get taken to Spain in a bag three years in a row, but can somehow brag about his xbox, PS3 AND his new iPad. 

Yes, really. Whereas I remember being extactic over a box of 64 coloured pencils, or a barbie doll, kids nowadays are demanding Kinects and 3D televisions, and when they finish unwrapping their gifts (piles of them, bigger each year), they are not only thoroughly dissapointed if the Segway on their list of desired presents wasn't among them, but they will speak up and say "it that all?".

White and black childen alike have higher expectations of the kinds of gifts they should recieve. Sure, when I was 5 I asked for a pony too, b ut when I got a pony for my barbie, that was good enough too. I understood that Sinterklaas couldn't work miracles. Besides, in the poem that Zwarte Piet wrote for me, they explained that we didn't have a barn to house the Pony, and that he couldn't live with us in the house. Now, it seems, kids don't only ask for rediculous things, they expect to get them, and parents actually buy them too. 

Whereas I, as a proud member of the Dutch community and nostaligic fan of Sinterklaas, have always named Christmas as the Coca-Cola defined, North American, capitalist, commercialized (and inferior) version of our so very honest St. Nicholas, I have to admit that even our local tradition has become a shell of what it used to be. Few of the original motivations to have such a holiday remain. I don't feel obligated to behave, and I don't see many children who do. Come New Years Eve, there will be another post about the 10 year-ols living in my appartment building that play with fireworks, lighting them with cigarettes, in the elevators, I'm sure. 

Now, don't get me wrong. Although I despise capitalism and what it does to people, I am full-heartedly participating in the Sinterklaas celebrations. I have even been a Zwarte Piet myself, back in the day. Tomorrow, I am hosting a very modest get-together at my house for 25 or so friends. We're all 25 - 35 (yes, except me, I know, I'm 24.), and we've all known for yars that Sinterklaas isn't real, but we still like presents, good company, and healthy reflection on just how good we've been this year, and if maybe next year, we should be better. 


I suppose modern Dutch society calls for a new tradition. One where we protest the racial connotations of a holiday that is no more than a good excuse to get together with family and friends, eat loads of chocolate and exchange gifts. And if all we really care about is the extra "koop-avonden" and "koop-zondagen" anyway, then we might as well shop till we drop. And we should most certainly never combine Christmas and Sinterklaas into one holiday. Not only because two commercial holidays will stimulate the economy more than one will, but for nostaligias sake. Most of all we need to hold on to the past like our lives depend in it, afterall, Tradition IS modernity, and the Dutch have a tradition of innovation. And because, lets face it, new things are only fun while they're still really, REALLY new. Then they become boring untill they become really, REALLY old. Then we call them vintage, and vintage is like, totally, the new modern.