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. 1st ed. Penguin Life, 2016. Print.
