Talk:Culture of Denmark
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Danes are smug? I have never met a Dane who was anything but warm and friendly. This incorrect generalization needs to be removed.
-Regarding smug Danes: My family is half danish, with most of them still living over there. Some come over here (Canada) regularly and I've been over there several times. I don't see the specific smugness being referred to either; instead, what I believe the author of that particular statement might be referring to is that peculiar inscrutability of people raied in northern european countries. It's not a coldness or rudeness, or smugness, but it can comes across that way sometimes. Maybe a touch of that stereotypical German standoffishness misattributed to Danes due to their geographic proximity? Dunno. I could see it being perceived as more of a disconcerting frankness and sarcasm if someone is not used to it.
Im doing a history on denmark's culture im from denmark buti dont know much ab out it? What should i put?
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[edit] Science?
Are scientific contributions appropriate on a cultural achievement page? They are achievements of members of this culture (demographically defined) but not culture-specific (athropologically defined). 70.57.137.163 06:00, 8 Apr 2005 (UTC) [Dpr]
- I think it might be appropirate, it shows the academic, technology driven nature of the Danish culture. --Commander Keane 13:10, 13 July 2005 (UTC)
Technology driven nature of culture? What went through your head as you wrote that?--Kappel 11:31, 23 March 2006 (UTC)
- Cultural radicalism. The idea that culture and art should be useful and serve a purpose. This is similar in nature to design art now showing up in New York and other places, but has been a central piece of Danish culture for more than a century, and the corner stone of Scandinavian design. 85.235.250.110 (talk) 09:39, 4 April 2008 (UTC)
-I'll assume that your level of ignorance is not commensurate with the respect you show to others, so I'll keep it quick. First off, dunno if you're Danish or not, but comparatively speaking Danish culture is not at all conservative and doesn't hold on to meaningless traditions nearly so much as others. What bearing does this have on technology? I would submit that this danish character reflects itself in the willingless to adopt new ideas. What is technology other than new ideas manifested as improved capabilities and material goods? Danish goods are held up as great examples of design in many areas: audio equipment, furniture, computer science, etc.
[edit] Danish first names
Why no mention of the strict control of first names in Denmark? I found this facinating, and would like to know more about it. --Commander Keane 13:41, 14 July 2005 (UTC)
What the hell are you talking about?
The Christophpher case, the family Satan? The phph name was made legal in 1996, though. I don't know if it would fit in with this piece of cultural advertising (missing a historical scope, though), maybe in an article on Danish naming customs? Poulsen 11:13, 29 November 2005 (UTC)
- In general, it is my impression that Denmark and the other Scandinavian countries, perhaps European countries in general, have more laws describing all kinds of practical aspects of the people's daily life than, say, the United States.--C960657 13:02, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
Denmark does have strict laws on naming yeah, it is actually priests of the national church(folkekirken) who decide whether or not a name can be used. While this may sound very religious etc. like many things about the national church the procedure is very secular and the decisions about whether or not a name is appropriate are based primarily on concerns about how it will affect the child while growing up. 80.163.51.149 13:41, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
[edit] About sport
- I have found following numbers of the most popular sport in Denmark (number of practioners):
1. (292.973) Soccer 2. (148.384) Gymnastics 3. (134.782) Team handball 4. (128.297) Badminton 5. (122.924) Svimming 6. (104.006) Golf 7. (73.268) Tennis 8. (72.856) Equestrian 9. (55.351) Sailing 10. (46.999) Sport shooting
Following sports mentioned in the article have only very few practioners, Australian Rules Football ,Rugby Union and Hockey Basketball and Volleyball have some practioners but they are not among the most popular.
Otto Kjærgaard, Denmark.
[edit] Problems
Generally I find the introduction of this article kind of odd. A lot of very bold generalizations on 5 million people. Can we somehow cut down on the oversimplifying statements an keep it objective...?
-Well, seeing as the article neccesarily contains a brief description of Danish culture, I don't see how it could be anything other than 'bold generalizations' and 'oversimplifying statements'. That's it's whole purpose! :) Otherwise it would be a billion pages long and of limited utility since it would take forever to get to the point, that is, to explain what might be perceived as the essential nature of a people.
[edit] Art
Should something not be said about Danish artistic achievements? The list here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Danish_painters) could provide a start: especially with artists such as Vilhelm Hammershøi attracting increasing international attention. Also: i saw a documentary about Copenhagen that claimed that edgy (political) stand up comedy is increasingly fashionable (especially now that the political temperature has, as it were, heated up, as a result of the (in)famous Danish cartoons etc. Does anyone know anything about this? I also feel that Danish cinema needs a section of its own: there is a lot more about than just Dogme 95, although, as one of the world's most important current cinema movements that is an achievement in itself User: BScotland
[edit] Influence of French culture
French culture has had significant impact on Danish culture, though maybe not in what the people themselves are like. As my grandfather/farfar was fond of saying of the Danish royalty "They spoke French to each other, German to their servants, and Danish to their dogs".
A great number of words in Danish are of french extraction, if not outrigt French themselves, such as Champignon for mushrooms, etc. Yes that's only one example, but there are more ;)
Danish cuisine has notably been influenced by French cuisine, especially pastries. More formal food, ie. non smorresbrod stuff, has alot of sauces.
I've also been led to believe that significant liasons exist between French and Danish film making. If anything, the stark discipline and bareness of method of Lars Von Trier is certainly in keeping with the French character... both Frenchmen and Danes can get downright ornery about purity of art.
Other links? Hmmm.... more historically, the country did side militarily with France during the Napoleonic era. One would assume there would be cultural exchange as well. More importantly, as a result of siding with the French, Denmark quite literally got its ass handed to it. If I understand it correctly, the navy was either destroyed and/or hauled back to England by Lord Nelson, and the country was driven into bankruptcy. As a result sizeable amount (all? someone correct me) of Danish territory (ie. colonies) outside of Europe was sold off. If there was such a thing as a Danish empire, or an inkling of one, it was completely eliminated. One would imagine this having a huge effect on a people. I think Denmark was more prone to think of itself as a little country in much stronger terms after that point, in order to take solace and to forge a new national identity.
I don't believe it's necessary to go into the influence of French on Danish culture, surely it is great if due only to proximity, but then would we not have to go into the influences of other countries? I think German, English, and American culture have had just as large if not larger (definately the case for Germany) impact on Denmark than French culture has, so the article would get quite large. It would probably warrant it's own article.
- The quote referred to doesn't only apply to royals (well, most of the Oldenburgers were more German than Danish - with notable exceptions, e.g. Frederick VI) but it could also have been applied to much of the nobility: such a man would "will speak French to his mistress, German to his servant and Danish to his dog". I believe this phrase is better known as an example of the heavy German influence which lead to the 19th century's Danish-German antagonism. There was an influence from French culture among the upper levels of society in the 1700s and early 1800s - e.g. in one of Ludvig Holberg's plays, two noblemen speak French with each other to conceal their conversation from the peasants. However, German culture has historically been much more influential than French and around 1/3 of all Danish words are probably Low German in origin, a number which does not take into account the 19th century attempts to "cleanse" the language of German influences removing a number of common words, e.g. "Geburtsdag" was changed to "fødselsdag" (birthday) (this change succeeded), or changing "isenkræmmer" to "jernkræmmer" (ironmonger; a change that failed). The linguistic impact is not very obvious at first glance as most of this influence took place in the Middle Ages, and many Danish words have changed somewhat since then. In both the French and German cases, it could be said that certain strata in Danish society imitated cultures they saw as more technologically, artistically, or culturally advanced. In the Middle Ages, this influence was German, in the Renaissance and Napoleonic periods it was French, and in the 19th century it shifted to German again, an influence continuing throughout the 19th century but in many ways terminated by the Danish-German wars in the 19th century which tore apart the Danish and German components of the Danish realm. In recent years many would-be experts have predicted the doom of the Danish language due to the influx of American words, but I somehow doubt that the same kind of people would have said anything differently 100 years ago only singling out the German language as the great threat.
- Anyway, it is hard to quantify cultural influences. In many ways, the more recent French / German influences mostly influenced the leading strata of society more that they influenced the common peasants. In the Middle Ages, the German influence was more confined to more day-to-day activities, e.g. a mason would likely learn his trade in Germany, so this must have had a deeper impact on the culture of the more common people, a development reinforced by the Lutheran Reformation since this development predominantly affacted Scandinavia and northern Germany. When it comes to the mentality of the Danish people, the most obvious difference between Danish and German culture is sometimes described with a claim that in Denmark (like in Britain) "everything is allowed unless a law explicitly forbids it". The Danish stereotype on Germans says that the opposite is the case there. Grundtvig's influence also remains strong; to boil him down to the completely stereotypical level: to be Danish means to be the opposite of being German. It is hardly an exaggeration that Danish culture wasn't really interested in foreign influences following the war in 1864. Valentinian T / C 20:51, 16 March 2007 (UTC)
[edit] "Hygge"
How come that the article doesn't mention about "hygge"? I know it is hard to define what it actually is, but nontheless, it is a major part of danish culture. We often do that when we have company by people close to us, like friends or family. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.93.140.106 (talk) 18:45, 2 April 2008 (UTC)
