Searching for Jante
The Law of Jante first appeared in the novel A Refugee Crosses His Tracks (1933) by the Danish-Norwegian author Aksel Sandemose. In the novel, “Jante” is a small village where the Law of Jante is an expression of people’s ability to hold each other – and thereby themselves – down. The physical model for Sandemose’s Jante is the village of Nykøbing Mors in Denmark. These images were photographed there in the summer of 2017. Does the Law of Jante say something about who we Scandinavians are? Can the Law of Jante be captured on film? I wanted to find out.