Norwegian Society and the Laws of Jante
Nordic society seems to be governed by a set of unspoken rules on how to behave around others. These rules or “laws” were first articulated by the Danish author, Aksel Sandemose in a novel that described life in a fictional town called Jante, ruled by a set of ten laws. The laws dictated that no one was to be boastful, to think they are more special than anyone else, not to imagine themselves as better than anyone else. They were known as Janteloven, or the Laws of Jante.
Sound familiar? Do you have any relatives that strictly mind their own business, don’t gossip, and don’t rarely bother anyone else while passing on the street (like saying hello)? If all Nordic people were to behave this way (and they don’t), how does that affect society innovation and initiative, especially in business?
One person who has thought about Nordic society is Fiona McKinna, an immigrant from England who produces the podcast, blog, and website Living a Nordic Life. Join us as we talk about the ramifications of Janteloven, delve into Nordic sociology, and about the way people behave in Nordic countries today. Special thanks to her for sharing her perspectives.
Links
Fiona McKinna’s Living a Nordic Life website contains a plethora of delights, from the podcast to recipes, blog, ecourses, with associated Facebook group (for which you need to sign up). Here’s where you can learn about Nordic traditions to ensure a life with hygge, lagom, and kose. Not sure what these are? Navigate to her site to find out. 🙂
A nice summary of Jante’s Laws, including a list of all 10, in English. From the Scandinavian Standard, Feb. 2023.
Paul Anderson, a Lutheran pastor (“Lutheran Renewal”), wrote an essay called Breaking the Stronghold of Jante that I found interesting. I’m not explicitly supporting nor disagreeing with his ideas, but I found his perspecitve from “inside” the Lutheran church interesting.
M. Michael Brady wrote a short article, Rules that Restrain, in the November 2018 issue of the Norwegian American. If you are blocked from viewing the article, you may be encouraged to subscribe to the paper (both paper and digital versions) at very reasonable prices, in my opinion: $70/year for the print + digital subscription, or $30/year for digital/online only. The Norwegian American has articles about all of the Nordic countries (not just Norway) as well as Scandinavians abroad. Full disclosure – I sometimes write articles for this newspaper. 🙂
If you’re so inclined, a translation of Sandemose’s A Fugitive Crosses His Tracks (Internet Archive, open source) can be read online. I’ve heard it described as bitter and unhappy. Oddly, there’s a Forward (“A Note”) by Sigrid Undset at the beginning which is rather sobering, about how far reaching Jante’s Laws are. She is an author I respect (e.g. Kristin Lavransdatter), and she was very keen on observing how society works.
A plaque of Aksel Sandemose and his 10 Janteloven, taken from his book A Fugitive Crosses His Tracks (En flyktning krysser sitt spor), 1933. The first rule is “Du skal ikke tro at du er noget” or “You shall not believe that your are [anything special]”.
The plaque is displayed in the Danish town of Nykøbing Mors where Sandemose grew up, upon which he modeled his fictional town of Jante. Rather ominous to have these ten laws posted in the the town…unless of course everyone in town agrees with them!
A couple of English expressions.
In this podcast, Fiona uses a couple of expressions that I think are more common in the UK than in the USA, so I thought I’d explain them.
1) Fiona says “they looked at me as if I were a nutter“. This isn’t that far from American English expressions like nutcase or completely nuts. My British dictionary says nutter means someone who is silly, strange, or crazy; synonyms include whacko, flake, oddball, or lunatic. An excellent word, which definitely describes me at times!
2) Fiona mentioned “living an A-four life“, suggesting this was a fairly bland and uneventful type of life. I learned she was referring to “A4”, the standard, paper size (210 x 297 mm) used in almost every printer and copy machine outside of Canada and the USA. In the USA, the sheets of paper are usually slightly larger at 8.5 x 11 inches (215.9 mm x 279.4 mm), called US letter size.
So an A4 life is one neither extravagant nor lackluster, but regular and common. Perhaps this meets the definition of lagom, neither too big nor too small? Is this a new expression for you? It sure was for me.
I enjoyed hearing this show. I had found your guest earlier on Facebook. Some of the cultural stuff about equality and humility I also find in our conservative Mennonite churches. Perhaps it is an earlier Christian attitude other European groups share?