Norwegian Farm Culture - The Romantic Nationalist View

The Romantic Nationalist View

The Norwegian romantic national movement set forth from about 1840, believing that the cultural basis for Norway was to be found in the farm culture. This culture had over the years blossomed in its own right, scarcely known outside the limits of the rural districts. It showed itself in the art of storytelling, legends, fairy-tales, in a rich decorative style, "rosemaling", woodcarving, silversmithing and folk-music, both on the Hardanger fiddle and the regular violin. Added to this came a great number of songs and tunes from medieval times, and the dances. While the patriots considered Gudbrandsdalen the heart of Norway, the romantic nationalists were drawn to Telemark as the center of rural culture. Here they found the greatest folk-musicians and the venerable tradition of medieval ballads best preserved.

It has been stated that the cultural consciousness among the Norwegian farmers was high, and that they did not always welcome the tax collectors as the years passed. The culture was rich, more so in the way that each valley had their distinct varieties and modifications. Outsider were often impressed, and said so.

On the other hand, the urbanists could show a kind of superior attitude towards this culture. It was, after all, raw and had to be refined before "national" usage. Thus, they did not always appreciate the value of the farm culture in its own right. The farmers understood this, and answered with a kind of forced contempt against the urbane. This created a "cultural breach" between city and rural community. Many poets, among them Henrik Wergeland and Henrik Ibsen understood this, and criticized the romantic nationalists for not taking the farmers’ culture seriously. Those who made the best efforts on collecting and writing down the rural culture were those that came from "within". They knew the codes, and had the farmers’ trust.

A strongly egalitarian approach characterizes this Norwegian cultural view, resisting any who would put themselves in a position of superiority. This results in a consensus oriented and issue oriented approach to problems and an unwritten law to stress social equality and emphasize fairness for all. It has also been characterized less favorably by Dano-Norwegian author Aksel Sandemose as the Jante Law (Norwegian Janteloven), which requires a rural environment to survive.

Thomas Hylland Eriksen, himself is of urban stock, provides a modern perspective on Norwegian nationalism: “With no powerful city bourgeoisie and no strong landed gentry, burgeoning Norwegian nationalism took on a different character from that of the European countries in the 19th century. It was emphatically rural and egalitarian in its orientation, and it trended to glorify the simple ways of life of the countryside rather than revel in urban grandeur of the military pride of the state… The irony of this invention of nationhood is the fact that those individuals who most strongly promoted the idea of Norwegianness as a rural form of life, were themselves urban and highly educated people – their daily life was very far removed from that of the simple peasants who they defined as the carriers of national identity.”