Culture of Sweden

Swedish culture is generally seen as egalitarian and tolerant in nature, and since the early 90's, the Swedish establishment has very deliberately embraced feminist, anti-racist, progressive and anti-fascist stances and views. Swedish society and its culture is concerned with the welfare and well-being of others, both within and outside Sweden; (See also; Income inequality in Sweden)

Prehistoric Sweden was the source of Viking culture, which was dominant in all of Scandinavia for many hundreds of years, and the Temple at Uppsala in Sweden was a site of pilgrimage and worship for all the Scandinavian peoples who worshipped the Aesir gods. Though western culture mostly recall the Vikings from present day Norway and Denmark who invaded France, England, Scotland and Ireland, the Swedish Vikings left huge marks on Byzanthian culture (where they were known as Varangians) as well as being the founders of the Kievan state.

Swedes have a tradition of informal coffee-break get-togethers known as Fika.

Although Sweden did not formally abolish slavery until the middle of the 14th century, it also did not have serfdom in the Middle Ages; peasant freeholders constituted about 40% of the population, and were one of four estates (together with nobles, clergy, and burghers) in the Diet.

Foreign influences on Sweden

See also: Post-war Sweden § Culture and mass media

Regions

See also: Provinces of Sweden

Provinces of Sweden

The 25 provinces (landskap) of Sweden, which early in their histories had poor intercommunication, each have a distinct culture. The provinces long ago lost their importance as administrative and political regions, but are still seen as cultural ones, and the population of Sweden identifies with them. Each province has a specific history, each with its own robust nature. Some of them constituted separated parts of Sweden with their own laws. Other regions have been independent, or a part of another country, such as (Denmark or Norway), etc. They have different indigenous dialects of North Germanic, and some have ethnic minorities. For more information about these cultural regions, see the provinces' articles:

• Blekinge
• Bohuslän
• Dalarna
• Dalsland
• Gotland
• Gästrikland
• Halland
• Hälsingland
• Härjedalen
• Jämtland
• Lappland
• Medelpad
• Norrbotten
• Närke
• Skåne
• Småland
• Södermanland
• Uppland
• Värmland
• Västmanland
• Västerbotten
• Västergötland
• Ångermanland
• Öland
• Östergötland

Food

Main article: Swedish cuisine

The consumption of alcohol is less than in many other European countries, owing to the state monopoly on alcoholic beverages, except at restaurants and bars.

Film

Poster for The Seventh Seal

Main article: Cinema of Sweden

Famous actresses and actors include Bibi Andersson, Ingrid Bergman, Greta Garbo, Noomi Rapace, Max von Sydow, Stellan Skarsgård, Alexander Skarsgård, Ingrid Thulin, Lena Olin, Dolph Lundgren, Mikael Persbrandt, Michael Nyqvist and Peter Stormare.

Music

Main article: Music of Sweden

Singing is popular in Sweden, and of its 9 million inhabitants, 600,000 belong to various choirs. Two of the world's leading songwriters, Jörgen Elofsson and Max Martin, live in Sweden.

In popular music, the group ABBA became the essence of Swedish music during the 1970s and early 1980s. Later Roxette emerged, mostly performing joyful songs in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This band was also successful in the USA. Europe, Ace of Base and The Cardigans are Swedish pop groups that have been popular internationally.

Pop promo director Jonas Åkerlund is from Sweden. He is perhaps best known for The Prodigy's Smack My Bitch Up and Madonna´s Ray of Light video.

Indie pop/rock is very big in Sweden. Gothenburg especially has spawned a great number of prominent bands and artists, thanks to labels such as Sincerely Yours, Service, and Luxury. Notable Swedish indie bands and artists include Jens Lekman, The Knife, Love Is All, The Concretes, Broder Daniel, The Tough Alliance, Peter, Bjorn and John, Little Dragon, El Perro del Mar, Maia Hirasawa, Fever Ray, Popsicle, Studio, The Embassy, The Honeydrips, Brainpool, Air France, jj, Joel Alme, Pacific!, etc.

In contrast with its large pop music scene, Sweden also boasts one of the most prolific death metal scenes in the world. Gothenburg is famed in the scene for the "melodic death metal" sound. Many of these bands such as In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, At the Gates, The Haunted, as well as Stockholm's Amon Amarth and Opeth have seen growing commercial success throughout Europe and the United States. Melodic death metal is quite a broad genre with many variations, but with its more obvious roots in traditional death metal, black metal and classic metal such as Iron Maiden. Still, many bands are influenced by genres as broad as Swedish folk music, alternative music, electronica, gothic music, progressive music and even neo-classical music. Sweden is known in the extreme metal community for its famous late 80s-early 90s death metal scene, spawning important bands such as Entombed, Dismember, Grave and Unleashed as well as more obscure, brutal bands as God Macabre, Obscurity, Treblinka (later Tiamat) and Grotesque.

Other Swedish bands and artists who seem to manage the international crowd better than others are Dungen, José González, Lykke Li, Mando Diao, The Sounds, The Hives, Neverstore, Sahara Hotnights, Robyn, Tages, The Mascots, Movits!, The Shanes, etc. However, there are a lot of other bands and artists who dominate the national music scene, such as Kent, Håkan Hellström and Lars Winnerbäck.

Literature

Main article: Swedish literature

Architecture

Main article: Architecture of Sweden

Medieval countyside church in Oxie, Scania with the typical stair-like gables.

The oldest preserved buildings in Sweden, from the 11th century, are made of stone. The earliest brick buildings where erected in the late 13th century. The most important building material, from early prehistoric times and well into the 20th century, was wood. The early Swedish stone buildings are Romanesque churches on the countryside. Many of them were built in Scania, and are thus stylistically like Danish churches. This includes the magnificent Lund Cathedral from the 11th century, and the somewhat younger church in Dalby, but also many early Gothic churches built through the influence of the Hanseatic League, such as in Ystad, Malmö and Helsingborg.

Cathedrals in other parts of Sweden were also built as seats of Sweden's bishops. The Skara Cathedral is of bricks from the 14th century, and the Uppsala Cathedral were completed in 1435, 165 years after the building started. In 1230, the foundations of the Linköping Cathedral were laid; the material used was limestone, and the building took some 250 years to finish.

Older Iron Age and medieval structures also include some significant fortresses, and other historical buildings such as Borgholm Castle, Eketorp fortress (both on Öland) and the Visby city wall.

Kalmar Castle

In the 1520s, Sweden emerged from the Middle Ages and once again asserted her independence under King Gustav Vasa. The king initiated a building program of grand mansions and fortresses, both for defense and to represent the new monarchy; much of this was continued by his sons in the latter half of the century. The more imposing ones include the castles of Kalmar, Gripsholm and Vadstena.

In the next two centuries, Sweden was the site of Baroque architecture and later the rococo. Notable projects from that time include the city Karlskrona, which has been declared a World Heritage Site, the Drottningholm Palace, and Stockholm Palace, still the official seat of the monarchy.

Clothing

National

Traditional Swedish national costumes according to Nordisk Familjebok.

Traditional Swedish national costumes are sometimes worn on special occasions, such as Midsummer. All such costumes are brightly colored. Sverigedräkten, a version mainly in blue and yellow, has been the established National Costume since 1983 and is thus worn by royalty on some official occasions.

Fashion

Modern clothing is very internationally influenced. In recent years, Sweden has gotten more involved in the fashion industry, headquartering famous brands like Hennes & Mauritz (operating as H&M), J. Lindeberg (operating as JL), Gina Tricot, Tiger of Sweden, Acne Jeans, and Filippa K within its borders.

A new breed of smaller Swedish fashion labels like Diana Orving, So Last Season, Odd Molly, WESC, Whyred, Hope, Nakkna, Velour, Carin Wester, Ida Sjöstedt, Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair, Cheap Monday, Nudie Jeans, and The Local Firm are emerging and being recognized.

See also: Swedish fashion

Arts

Main article: Art of Sweden

In the 19th century, the painter Carl Larsson (1853–1919) shaped the image of the idyllic countryside home with his naïve picturesque illustrations.

See also

• List of museums in Sweden

External links

• Sweden at geographia.com
• Picturesque Sweden (1950s) at globalimageworks.com