Danish Culture 101

          Even though I have only been living in Copenhagen for two 1/2 weeks, I feel as if I am already starting to get a picture of Danish culture.  In talking to Danes, including my professors who teach Danish Language and Culture and Danish Politics and Society, I am beginning to get a glimpse of the distinctly Danish cultural identity that abounds here.  I know this post is long so you don't have to read the whole thing, but I think many of you will find it very interesting.

          Before beginning I want to make a disclaimer, especially for any Danes who are reading this, that of course in talking about any nationality as a whole one is presuming huge generalizations.  My descriptions of Danish culture are based on what I have learned in classes, stereotypes that I have heard and observations I have made in my brief time here.  I of course do not profess to characterize all people who live in Denmark as like this, or the same, by any means, nor do I think that 2 weeks is enough time to even begin understand a very complex cultural identity.

With that, I begin.   

I was told by a former DIS student that the Danes are a very relaxed and casual culture.  I’ve observed this to be true – rarely seeing anyone rush to and from where they are going but more often strolling, chatting with a friend or leisurely biking.   Myself being an American, and moreover a perpetually-stressed student at what some would characterize as a high pressure college, I’ve found it hard to shake the habit of rushing everywhere, even when I do not have somewhere to be.  I have tried to consciously instruct myself to slow down and take in and enjoy the sights that I am speeding past.  Maybe by the time I am leaving Copenhagen I will have mastered the Danish art of relaxedly strolling and enjoying myself, without constant concern and attention to the time.

 I’ve also been told that Danes are generally more reserved than Americans.  I don’t know how true this is – my Danish teacher, in her life in Denmark and travel to the US, insists that it is – but one does observe a revealing phenomenon when riding public trains and buses.  Sitting on the train, the whole car is usually silent, and I often realize that it is just us Americans who are loudly chattering away.  There is even a silent car who for those who want to have their train ride in peace.  When we asked my Danish teacher for a word for excuse me, as in “excuse me this is my stop can you please let me out?” she explained that although the word undskyld, pronounced, “un-school”, translates to pardon me, it is more often used if you bump someone or to say I’m sorry. Instead, if one wants to get out of an inner seat on a bus, most Danes will simply begin rattling their papers and putting on their coat to signal that they want to get up.  Luckily for us since we speak very little Danish, often the most Danish thing to do is not say anything at all.  This is a big contrast to Americans who often feel obliged to or enjoy making small talk and almost always say “hi” to a stranger that they pass in the hallway.

Recently in my Danish politics and society class we devoted several days to learning about Danish values and culture.  It has been emphasized to me that there is a very tribe-like quality to the Danish people and that this strong emphasis on the community is at the heart of Danish culture.  This is reflected in the social welfare state, which Danes feel very strongly about, which attempts to give everyone equal opportunities.  The social welfare system particularly aids women in having an equal chance of pursuing a full time career and having chikdren. Women receive a year paid maternity leave, heavily subsidized daycare and government-paid for education through university, in addition to the child-rearing help many women receive from their partners, who are forced to take paid paternity leave.  Families are also paid by the government for each child they have, to compensate for the cost of raising children, and students are paid to attend university so that they can focus on their studies and not have to work.  Finally, both men and women receive the first and second day that their child is sick, every time their child is sick, off with pay.  How’s that for a government that makes it possible to be a parent and a full time worker?  Women make up a much larger percentage of the workforce in Denmark than in the US, largely because of this government safety net that allows women to have flexible work and family lives.  Of course, all of this is paid for with taxes higher than we can imagine in the US, but most Danes seem to be okay with this.  Along with the idea that everyone derives equal benefit and opportunity is the idea that everyone contributes, and that goes for taxes (even though my Danish politics professors joked that finding ways to evade taxes is the national pastime).

This post is getting long, so I will just say a few more things I have observed about Danish culture.

       Hygge (pronounced hu-gah), is a distinctly danish atmospheric quality that all Danes understand perfectly but which is nearly impossible to convey to foreigners.  It's closest translation is coziness, but it is much more complicated than that.  The best I can picture from what I have been told is a group of friends having dinner together, complete with witty and enjoyable conversation, dim lights and candles, and a feeling of relaxation.  As an adjective it is hyggelig, an evening would be described as hyggelig.  I have been attempting to create hygge in my meals but don't think I have quite done it yet - this is a goal before I leave Copenhagen.

       Danish society has much more liberal mores about sexuality, drugs and alcohol, homosexuality, etc. than we do.  Denmark was the first country to allow gay marriage, young people are legally allowed to drink at 16 and many start before that, and ads or slogans that contain nudity or curse words are not unheard of and certainly not censored like in the US.

       Learning about some of the history of Denmark has given me some clues into their culture.  The great defeat of 1864, when Denmark lost a large chunk of their land to Germany and left what is the present-day borders of Denmark, is in the collective memory of the Danish people and has shaped their identity.  After that battle, the Danes adopted the slogan "What is lost shall be regained internally" and I think that that pride in their culture and slight feeling of being part of something special is evident here.

        Finally, I've been told that Denmark is a country that really values compromise and dialogue.  There has never been a revolution here, even though there has been one in almost every other European country.  In 1848 the king voluntarily handed over power to go from absolutism to a constitutional monarchy.  Ans, since no one political party has ever had a majority in parliament there have always been a series of compromises and coalition governments and so dialogue and compromise is at the heart of the political system.  It is also seen in the Danish labor system, in which the government has vitually no involvement, but strong trade unions (86% of people in Denmark are in a union) negotiate with employers associations to create working conditions that then become the basis for public policy.

        I have only just scratched the surface in talking about all the things that are unique and wonderful about Denmark and the Danish people.  I'm sure you will glean more from reading my subsequent blog posts, and I hope you have found my few observations about Danish culture interesting.  After a semester here I aim to come away with a deeper and fuller understanding of a culture that was once foreign to me and in doing so really enrich my perspective and my life.