I do part ways with you a bit on whether the Yuletide challenge is inherently Christian-centric -- yes, of course it's a "secret Santa" sign-up and the majority of people doing it celebrate Christmas and the timing is Christmas-based and so on, so in that sense -- much like school holidays -- it is. But I thought the mods picked the name "Yuletide" specifically, and explicitly, as a gesture away from a Christian-o-centric conception of the exchange and toward something older, less based in contemporary religious denominations and therefore more inclusive in tone. We all know the story about how the Christian appropriated Yuletide as a convenient time to celebrate Christmas (which is not thought to have been the time of year Jesus was actually born), so we apprehend the historicist, quasi-secular use of the original pagan name of the festival rather than the name given to it by its Christian colonizers as a way of saying "This fic exchange does not celebrate Jesus, it celebrates midwinter."
Anyway, that's how I perceived it, and I for one appreciated the gesture. I *don't* think "Yule" and "Yuletide" are Christian or even Christian-assimilated words, even if they're used in the occasional carol. They are generally used precisely to mark a difference/dissent from Christianity.
no subject
I do part ways with you a bit on whether the Yuletide challenge is inherently Christian-centric -- yes, of course it's a "secret Santa" sign-up and the majority of people doing it celebrate Christmas and the timing is Christmas-based and so on, so in that sense -- much like school holidays -- it is. But I thought the mods picked the name "Yuletide" specifically, and explicitly, as a gesture away from a Christian-o-centric conception of the exchange and toward something older, less based in contemporary religious denominations and therefore more inclusive in tone. We all know the story about how the Christian appropriated Yuletide as a convenient time to celebrate Christmas (which is not thought to have been the time of year Jesus was actually born), so we apprehend the historicist, quasi-secular use of the original pagan name of the festival rather than the name given to it by its Christian colonizers as a way of saying "This fic exchange does not celebrate Jesus, it celebrates midwinter."
Anyway, that's how I perceived it, and I for one appreciated the gesture. I *don't* think "Yule" and "Yuletide" are Christian or even Christian-assimilated words, even if they're used in the occasional carol. They are generally used precisely to mark a difference/dissent from Christianity.