The Law of Jante
It is weird how cultures are so different. I've been posting a lot of "how to be(come) a Swede"-posts lately and so I thought I should present you to The Law of Jante or Jante's Law. It was originally written in a novel by Aksel Sandemose (Norwegian). Unfortunately it does describe a bit of the Scandinavia mentality. Now you may think this is ironic but acting against these beliefs in Scandinavia would mean that you would not only stand out, but be freezed out.
§1 You shall not believe that you are somebody
§2 You shall not believe that you are as worthy as us
§3 You shall not believe that you are any wiser than us
§4 You shall not imagine that you are any better than us
§5 You shall not believe that you know anything more than us
§6 You shall not believe that you are any more than us
§7 You shall not believe that you are good at anything
§8 You shall not laugh at us
§9 You shall not believe that anyone cares about you
§10 You shall not believe that you can teach us anything
I'm beginning to wonder whether number 8 is a mistake =)
posted by Marianne Lamberth at
03:05
3 Comments:
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By
WinstonC, At
11:09
I am actually a firm believer that "Jantelagen" no longer exist in Sweden. ( has it ever?) Just have a look at all of our "backslicks" hanging around Stureplan, they surley stand out and they surley believe that they are better than everyone else. But hey, they also get all the ladies. Froozen out? Them? Rather admired.
By
Anonymous, At
11:10
Personally I don't admire them at all.
But sure... Stureplan is dominating the media these days as well, and that mentally is beginning to take over in Sweden. Whether that should be seen as a good or a bad thing is very individual.
Compliments and acknowledging personal strengths have generelly been frown upon, that is at least my experience. But the culture IS changing,and now people say that those who frown are jealous.
By
Marianne Lamberth, At
11:48
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