The End

I initially began this research project looking specifically at the food that was deemed as hygge. What interested me was the idea that a sole food item, the experience of eating or even the people that we are eating with can make us happy. However, it became apparent to me that in researching Scandinavian foods and approaches to life, the term hygge is a rebrand of norms and values that have been instilled by the Nordic region for several years. As a result, I began to look at an overview of Scandinavian life that predated the hygge internet craze whilst still looking mainly at food and the relationship that people have with it in the north – and why it makes them so happy!

For me, hygge is about experiencing happiness in the home setting or in the company of friends. But are the Scandinavian’s living in a bubble? No. Whilst the anxieties of crime and other negative aspects of life are not censored to the public, they are fictionalised in the format of television series and books. This enables the hygge lifestyle to focus primarily on individual experiences that encourage only positive behaviour in our real lives. So hygge has been around for a while… But a refresh in our attitude to life to inspire our own happiness can’t be a bad thing. It is a craze I am still happy to be happy about. Cup of tea?

The Moomins

The Nordic region and the literature that represents it have not always been preoccupied with murder mysteries. In fact, Tove Jansson’s series of books, The Moomins (1945-1970), targets the child audience to develop an understanding of the Moomin family and how they work together to solve any problems that may arise throughout the plot. The sense of morality that is present within these books result in an echo of the values that are now popularly deemed as a nod towards the hygge mentality.

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In a bid to steer my research to hygge and its ideals predating the 2016 internet fad of books, blogs and newspapers publishing advice for how to achieve happiness, I look at the children’s books that would have inspired the, now adult, Scandinavian generation. From Jansson’s series, I have chosen to take a look at the illustrations in, Moominsummer Madness (1955). This book was particularly attractive in its inclusion of biblical morality – a sudden flood in Moominvalley leaves the Moomin family rebuilding their home and lives from scratch.

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Surprisingly, the flood does not prevent the Moomin’s from keeping together as a family as they use the strengths of one another to survive. This sense of support and community is shown in several instances within the novel whereby the family are actively working together to access food, sitting down for a meal, or even sharing each other’s company over a cup of tea. Teacups are frequently seen in Jansson’s illustrations and are a referral to what the Scandi’s deem as essential materialistic components in their lives. In some ways this explains the hygge obsession for relaxing with a hot drink and taking a moment’s relaxation – a cup of tea enables the Moomin’s to think about what is going on and offers them stability in their uncertain situation.

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In my initial post on the definition of hygge it is suggested by Meik Wiking that hygge is about a sense of togetherness – ‘being with the people we love’ and ‘a feeling that we are home’. These values, whilst becoming fashionable in the growth and awareness of hygge, are values that have been instilled in Scandinavian’s for a length of time that outdates the hygge craze. A sense of togetherness has become part of the fabric of being from the Nordic region. 

Works Cited

Jansson, Tove, and Thomas Warburton. Moominsummer Madness. 4^TH ed. London: Puffin Books, Penguin Group, 2012. Print.

Wiking, Meik. The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way To Live Well. 1^st ed. Penguin Life, 2016. Print.

Not Very Hygge

When looking to gain an insight into the way in which people live cross-culturally, we often find ourselves considering the different modes of media that shape a specific country. Television programmes and film target their audience in a way that is specific to the humour, interests and lifestyles of those who are watching. Yet interestingly, when looking at what it was the Scandinavian’s were watching on the box, I was shocked to see that the most popular television dramas and novels are settled well within the crime genre.            
After binge-watching an entire season of The Bridge (2011), I was beginning to struggle to understand that the Denmark that I had been watching was the same country that I had previously been reading about in my hygge books! The ideals that Meik Wiking instil in his book in the cosiness of a fire, a warm drink and spending time with family could not have been more distant from the dysfunctional families in the series and socially-inept main character, Saga Noren.            
This left me, like The Guardian’s Michael Booth, beginning to question the ‘Nordic region’ (Booth, Michael) as a vision of ‘utopia’ (Booth, Michael) for us to try and replicate in our own lives – in a bid for happiness? Booth suggests that whilst the Danes ‘claim to be the happiest people in the world… they are second only to Iceland when it comes to consuming anti-depressants’ (Booth, Michael). How is it possible for a country to sell their success of happiness through a global growing interest in hygge, to rely heavily on drugs to numb them of emotion to cope with their daily lives? It is clear that in the watching of cult television programmes I have uncovered a new understanding of the north that it is not commonly publicised – hygge is not a mentality that is as clear cut and accessible as it is initially portrayed. Happiness cannot be quantified to a nation; happiness relies heavily on individuality that is, arguably, not embraced in notions of hygge.  

Works Cited

“The Bridge – Season 1 Intro”. Online Video Clip. Youtube. SVT1, DR1. 21 Sep. 2011. Web. 21 Mar. 2017. 

Booth, Michael. “Dark lands: the grim truth behind the ‘Scandinavian miracle’” The Guardian. Guardian Media Group, 27 Jan. 2014. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.
Wiking, Meik. The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way To Live Well. 1^st ed. Penguin Life, 2016. Print. 

the wonderful everyday

The material that has been published on hygge encourages its readers to shake up their approach to life with a new, hygge mentality. This focuses mainly on making simple changes in order to consequently feel happier within our lives. One way in which this can be achieved is through the power of interior design - however, the public interest in clean and minimalist Scandinavian interiors predates the hygge craze. In fact, many of the most popular hygge texts were published in quick succession due to public demand for a piece of the seemingly new Scandinavian approach to life, and all within the last year. Yet as highlighted in The Daily Telegraph, ‘the first Ikea store in the UK was opened in 1987 in Warrington’ (Wallop, Harry) and has since been changing the way we approach design and even food.

One of the most interesting things about Ikea is that as a company, they believe in an unlikely, yet somewhat intrinsic relationship between food and furniture. In an interview with Michael la Cour, the Managing Director of Ikea Food Services, Michele Bianci asks the questions that we want to know the answers to – why is a company that is renowned for its purse-friendly flat-pack furniture also famed for meatballs and mash? This relationship is sourced from the company’s attitude in how to approach designing each piece of furniture and la Cour refers to this as the ‘Democratic Design: low price, form, function, quality and sustainability. We apply the same principles in our approach to food’. Food is not dissimilar to the assembling and creation of a chair; both include a recipe of sorts that include an ingredient and method. Texts on hygge instil the same values through living frugally but without affecting the quality of life. However Ikea’s success as a company reinforces that this is not a new concept only being brought to light now in the popularised marketing of Scandinavian life-style books. 

Works Cited

Bianci, Michele. “Meatballs & Klippan: Why A Furniture Dealer Decided To Sell Food”. Ikea Highlights 2016. Web. 14 Mar. 2017.

Wallop, Harry. “Ikea: 25 Facts.” The Daily Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 31 Oct. 2012. Web. 14 Mar. 2017. 

popcorn

Life experiences are incredibly personal moments that build up our character to determine who we are as individuals and how we fit in the world. The important thing about these experiences, is that they help to shape the way in which we perceive that world and the consequent way in which we act towards it and those around us. The problem with looking at our own life experiences is that every single person is different and unique. Whilst individuality is regarded to have paramount importance in many western cultures, when pinpointing what life experiences can be categorised within the emotional realm of hygge, it becomes difficult to assume what life experiences and moments are universally regarded as important - and more importantly, include food.

So my first job was to look for food that could be categorised as hygge. My instinct was to initially look for a recipe book that celebrated hygge specifically through food. In my search for the perfect cook book I came across Hygge: Comfort & Food For The Soul. Whilst flicking through all of the recipes it occurred to me that each recipe included a 'Hygge Hint' which offered a way to develop each recipe from the basic dish to a moment of hygge.

Nearly all of us, I can imagine, have at some stage sat down to watch a movie with a bag full of popcorn; with a loved one, family or friends. Sitting in the silence of a dark room consuming nothing but a movie, a crunchy snack and the company of those around us. This is a life experience that  we can all understand and appreciate for what it is. The popcorn is inexpensive to buy and will only take a few minutes to make a big batch like mine. The satisfaction, the hygge is in the explosion of the hard corn into the light and fluffy sea of popcorn. The hygge is in the sharing of the snack. 'Popcorn means movie night!', popcorn means hygge.

Works Cited

CookNation. Hygge: Comfort & Food For The Soul. Inverness: Bell & Mackenzie Publishing Ltd, 2016. Print. 

The beginning

Hygge. Pronounced 'Hoo-gah'. What is it, why does it exist and why is the internet so obsessed with it? Well since delving into Meik Wiking's The Little Book of Hygge, I can safely say that I completely understand the craze.

So let me start by exploring its origins, and more importantly, why this is significant. The term ‘Hygge’ was coined in the Nordic countries, yet as Wiking suggests in his introduction, 'spelling and pronouncing 'hygge' is the easy part'. Hygge specifically refers to a set of cultural practices and signifiers that result in experiencing the emotions that are popularly associated with moments of hygge: Lighting a candle, minimalist interior design, cosying up on the sofa with a coffee and blanket or going for a long walk in the woods. As a result of this, defining it is difficult because human emotions are completely unique to the individual – what one may deem as hygge, another may not. Broadly speaking then, Wiking suggests that an apt definition for what hygge really means is ‘being with the people we love. A feeling we are home. A feeling that we are safe, that we are shielded from the world and allow ourselves to let our guard down’. Hygge is the ability to enjoy the small things in our lives and to seek comfort within it.

Perhaps then, this explains why according to the World Happiness Report, Denmark is the happiest country on Earth. And that’s why we are utterly obsessed with it. In a bid to see how the Nordic live and how they are doing better to achieve, what everyone wants… happiness, we find hygge as something to aspire towards.

However, hygge is a relatively new term within the grand scheme of things. In fact our obsession with a Scandinavian lifestyle predates the hygge craze. For years we have been leaning towards the Scandi lifestyle in our love of Ikea and Nordic TV series. But what is it about a cosy lifestyle and cosy food that is specifically associated with hygge that makes the hygge movement any different to our previous obsession with the North?

Works Cited

Wiking, Meik. The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way To Live Well. 1^st ed. Penguin Life, 2016. Print.