Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving

Summary/Abstract: Thanksgiving Day as a national holiday has been celebrated in the United States since 1789. The origins are related to thanking God for the blessings that the settlers received in the New World, first for bountiful harvests, and then also for victories in battles. The holiday still serves to emphasize the importance of the community, for which the past year was successful. The celebrations are both religious and secular. However, the question remains for whom this land was “new”, for whom it was “fertile” and who could enjoy prosperity and victories in armed conflicts? Thanksgiving is a joy and a manifestation of national unity, but it can also be seen as a symbol of concealing the violence, inequality and exploitation on which the USA was founded. The author analyzes Thanksgiving Day in the collective memory context, developing the theoretical concepts of Paul Connerton and Paul Ricœur.

• Details
• Contents