Paper short abstract:

This paper interprets Charles Dickens’ classic story – A Christmas Carol. The social and economic meanings of Scrooge’s transformation are elucidated via the ideas of ‘ludic economy’ and ‘gift play’. Based on this study, it is proposed that these ideas complement the study of the 'moral economy'.

Paper long abstract:

This paper explores an alternate anthropological frame for studying the economy. The frame is that of the 'ludic economy' which focuses on interpreting 'gift play'. This approach is employed as a method for re-interpreting Charles Dickens' classic story - A Christmas Carol (1843) elucidating the cultural meaning of Scrooge's transformation and in particular interpreting how his transformation relates to changes in the Victorian economy. Although the moral dimensions of the story are important, a 'ludic reading' reveals the importance of the performativity of Scrooge's 'gift play'. This concept of 'gift play' is derived from the work of: Marcel Mauss The Gift (1925) and Johan Huizinga's Homo ludens (1938). I argue that the cultural significance of the Carol relates to the tense 'gift play' that Scrooge embodies. Scrooge's transformation, from miser to spendthrift, reveals a change in the idea of how the game of economy should be played. Hence, through writing the Carol, Dickens made a decisive play within the game of moral economy - that the aim of the game is no-longer capital accumulation but instead hedonistic consumerism. This interpretation highlights the point that the anthropological study of economy can be complemented by studying the 'ludic economy' alongside the 'moral economy' - an important aspect of this process is reading for the 'gift play'.