Christmas as a Temporary Utopia : The idea of Christmas represented in three Christmas magazines from the years 1892, 1958 and 2025

This study called Christmas as a temporary Utopia examines how the idea of Christmas is represented in three Swedish Christmas magazines from the years 1892, 1958 and 2025. The study focuses on the modern Christmas celebration in relation to the concept of temporary utopia. The findings reveal a strong continuity in Christmas symbolism over time. Central signifiers such as the Christmas tree, Santa Claus, children, community, abundance, peace, the church, and the colour red appear in all three magazines. Christmas is depicted as an idealised past, as a period of community and the comfort of the home, as a children’s holiday, and as a time of peace and tranquility. In addition, a tension between Christian ideals and materialism emerges. Drawing on utopian theory, the modern Christmas celebration is interpreted as an annually recurring temporary utopia in which joy, community, peace and comfort, generosity, and material abundance is the norm.