The Danish Secret Revealed: The Jante's Law

This is one of the first posts I write about Danish culture in my blog. There are many reasons and excuses for that, which I might comment later. After over one year living here, and trying to understand the complexity of the simple way of life of the Danes, I might now be able to "guess" something.

Everybody who comes here can easily see how Danish people are open to other people, lovers of individual freedom, rich and egalitarian (social welfare system, for example), having a high standard of ethics. Especially when I compare with the country I come from.

Under the surface, someone ask her/himself: how come this country can be so liberal, so capitalistic, so individualistic, and at the same time to egalitarian, so socialistic??

Well, under the water there is a huge iceberg of cultural assumptions and truths that even the Danes themselves deny! Or they try to deny...

A long time ago, in 1933, a Danish-Norwegian author wrote a novel about a little village in Denmark called Jante, a typical small town where nobody is anonymous. The 10 rules that define life there are:

1. Don't think that you are special.
2. Don't think that you are of the same standing as us.
3. Don't think that you are smarter than us.
4. Don't fancy yourself as being better than us.
5. Don't think that you know more than us.
6. Don't think that you are more important than us.
7. Don't think that you are good at anything.
8. Don't laugh at us.
9. Don't think that anyone cares about you.
10. Don't think that you can teach us anything.

The law is meant to preserve social stability and uniformity, and the Janters who break the "unwritten" law are treated with suspicion or even hostility.

The movie Dogville was filmed in Sweden and directed by Lars von Trier, a Dane. Although it's a clear critics on the American culture, some might speculate saying that it has many elements of the Law of Jante: Grace (Nicole Kidman) arrives and people accept her as long as she seems inferior to them, and as soon as she becomes too special, too important for the eyes of the people around her, the negative attitude starts: "who does she think she is...?"

Being here has taught me a lot and living "with" the Jante's Law is very difficult sometimes. But you got to admit that it brings a lot of benefits as well...

For another article on Jante's Law, I recommend this one written by a Turkish journalist:
Janteloven: Egalitarianism or restrictiveness?

Thanks Anita Roddick!

Last week Dame Anita Roddick passed away. She was the founder of The Body Shop almost 30 years ago, and a great inspiration for me. She still is and will continue to be...

A beautiful article was published on ODE Magazine today:
One Hell of a Woman and her Mosquito


On BBC News...

Life at Mejlgade street

I got used to be a nomad in Århus, and I'm learning to carry less and less, only the necessary goes with me. Of course I would like to have a place I call "home" for a longer period, but rent is expensive to keep when you are always traveling around. Living rooms and couches became "home" and they will continue to be for the next two years!

Last week I moved again, I think it was the 7th or 8th time in one year I live here. I live together with Daniel, the current LCP of AIESEC UNI - yes, again, AIESEC helping me...

The interesting part is that my daily life got reduced to 200 meters... I live, work and study in the same street: Mejlgade, which also comes to be the oldest street in Århus - over one thousand years old!!

"The original city [of Århus] grew up around the mouth of the Århus Å river. Here the Vikings decided to settle because of the location's excellent potential as a harbour and trading position. The Danish word for "river mouth" was at that time "AROS", and this is the word from which "Århus" of today originates. During the Viking Age a cluster of houses along the river up to Immervad and down to the Mejlgade street constituted a small urban community encircled by an earthen rampart and a moat." (VisitAarhus.com)

I live at number 5, last floor with an amazing sunny terrace (able to climb up to the roof)

I study at the backyard of number 35, Kaospilots.

And and work at the number 24, cleaning a cool bar called Ris Ras. It's easy and I do it in the morning before going to class. The benefits includes "under the table" cash, free (good) coffee and very cheap beers, besides lots of nice staff.

But this is only for this month, in October I'll spend two weeks in Copenhagen and perhaps go to Brazil until January!