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    Xenophobe's Guide to the Danes
    Xenophobe's Guide to the Danes
    Xenophobe's Guide to the Danes
    Ebook87 pages1 hour

    Xenophobe's Guide to the Danes

    By Helen Dyrbye

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Everything in moderation

    Denmark is a land of modesty and moderation. This is largely a consequence of the Danes' sense of social responsibility. The touchstone of any activity or point of view is whether it is samfundsrelevant, that is, socially useful.

     

    That's not funny

    Danish humor suffers from the handicap of the Danes' literal-mindedness (Can you play the violin?” I don't know, I've never tried.”), and for their need to conform. In a country where all right-thinking people think the right things, no-one is sufficiently different to laugh at.

     

    Combined forces

    Danes cooperate. Lego comes from the Danish words leg godt, which means play well,” and this is just what the Danes are good at. They get along well with other people. In any brochure translated for the world market, the word cooperation will appear at least three times per page along with a generous sprinkling of joint ventures.”

     

    Frankly speaking

    They say what they think about sex, politics, religion, everything. Small talk can assume monstrous proportions. They will tell you frankly how much their mortgage is, how much they earn per hour, and whether or not they shave their armpits.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOval Books
    Release dateOct 1, 2008
    ISBN9781908120243
    Xenophobe's Guide to the Danes

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    Reviews for Xenophobe's Guide to the Danes

    3.5/5

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    • 3/5
      If no news is good news then Denmark looks like the place to be. I know Europe quite well but Denmark was a blank space that I now find is inhabited by law abiding nature lovers in sensible waterproof clothing who like beer and open sandwiches and love their national flag.
    • 4/5
      Funny, and fairly accurate as these sorts of generalizations go.

    Book preview

    Xenophobe's Guide to the Danes - Helen Dyrbye

    thirsty.

    Nationalism & Identity

    The Danes and their neighbours

    Denmark is a Scandinavian country, but not a very Scandinavian country. It has no midnight sun, no ski-jumps and no reindeer.

    Outsiders tend to think of the Scandinavians as all the same, but they are not. The Norwegians are like the Scots; a hardy mountain folk. Swedes are the Prussians of the North; they stand up straight, dress alike and do what they are told. The Danes are more relaxed and easy-going. They sit down: it increases the chances of everyone seeing eye to eye.

    The differences between these three peoples are best understood by considering the most famous writer of each country: Hans Christian Andersen for Denmark, Ibsen for Norway and Strindberg for Sweden.

    Denmark is a Scandinavian country, but not a very Scandinavian country.

    They are also reflected in attitudes to alcohol. In Denmark alcohol is freely available and relatively cheap. In Norway and Sweden alcohol is pricey and sales are under state control; a licence is needed not just to sell alcohol, but to buy it. This is good news for Copenhagen bars, which do a lively trade selling Danish firewater to thirsty Swedes and Norwegians on the razzle. No Swedish politician would ever be seen with a beer in his hand, but Danes are happy to see Danish politicians not only holding a beer, but drinking it – although they baulk at footing the bill if it’s done ‘outside office hours’.

    The Danes think of their neighbours as they would members of their family. Denmark is the baby sister whose idea of fun occasionally shocks.

    The Danes think of their neighbours as they would members of their family. Denmark is the baby sister whose idea of fun occasionally shocks. The other Scandinavian countries are of course brothers. Finland is the one who is moody, unpredictable and possibly autistic. Norway is accepted as equal, perhaps even slightly envied for its oil wealth, natural beauty and exclusivity. Sweden is the boring older brother who thinks he knows best, is well dressed, well behaved and infuriatingly politically correct. However, Sweden offers lower tax, cheaper housing and luxury cars at giveaway prices compared with Denmark. Younger Danes have a sneaking admiration for the Swedes that they try to keep hidden.

    The Swedish countryside is much admired and many Danes holiday in Sweden, but they feel somehow that Swedes don’t deserve their wonderful surroundings. In Danish eyes Sweden is a cultural and human desert. There are rules about everything and you need a second mortgage to stand a round of drinks. Both countries have fines for dogs fouling the pavement, but in Sweden you actually get caught.

    In the spirit of New Europe, Danes try very hard to like the Germans, but it’s hard work not to bite the hand that feeds them. Danes are convinced that the Germans are trying to take over Europe, cunningly disguised as tourists. They are intensely concerned that the pølse tyskere (sausage Germans) will buy Jutland as soon as they get the chance and turn it into a windsurfing centre. Germans regularly fall asleep on their sailboards and have to be fished out of the North Sea halfway to Grimsby by the long-suffering Danish air-sea rescue service. All the summer houses are rented out to Germans, there are even German editions of local newspapers, and L

    EGOLAND

    , complete with a part of the Rhein Valley, is filled to the brim with Germans determined to enjoy themselves.

    However, Germans are more acceptable if they buy plenty of Danish products. They are also partially forgiven for being German if they employ Danes in their businesses.

    The Danes attribute their success to having all the virtues of their neighbours and none of their vices.

    Inflation in Denmark is negligible, the economy is strong and technical development is world-class – not bad for a country with a population roughly that of South London. The Danes attribute this success to their having all the virtues of their neighbours and none of their vices. They share the Germans’ methodical attention to detail and the Swedes’ egalitarianism and level-headedness. Gone is the plodding, constipated German imagination (or lack of it) and the dreary Swedish party-pooping pedantry. According to the Danes, what’s left is a unique mixture of conscientiousness and informality that makes Danish overseas travellers breathe a sigh of relief when they cross the border home.

    High fliers

    Danes who cannot fly flags out of doors have mini flagpoles as part of their table decoration for high days and holidays.

    The Danes fly their flag with pride. The red and white ‘Dannebrog’ against a clear blue sky is enough to bring a tear to their eyes. Rural inhabitants invariably have their own flag pole set squarely in the middle of their garden. Town dwellers rent an allotment and plant a pole along with their broad-leaved parsley. Both have lists of dates magneted to the fridge giving details of when to ‘let rip’ – public holidays, festivals, state visits, their own birthdays, anniversaries, etc., and town ‘fêtes’ when flags line the main street to remind everyone that the local shops stay open late that night.

    Danes who cannot fly flags out of doors have mini flagpoles as part of their table decoration for high days and holidays, and even fly the flag on cocktail sticks. Shops and advertisers use the flag to promote their goods, and Danish football fans were the first to paint their faces with their national flag.

    There is nothing threatening about this nationalism. As a nation, the Danes have not been a threat to anyone for hundreds of years.

    How they see others

    The rugged individualism of American society is at odds with the importance which Danes attach to social cohesion.

    The rugged individualism of

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