Culture of Sweden

Historical provinces of Sweden

The 25 historical provinces (landskap) of Sweden, which early in their histories had poor intercommunication, each have a distinct culture, though today they have lost their importance as administrative and political regions while the population of Sweden still identifies with them. Each province has its own history and individual nature. In early times, some of them were so separate from Sweden (as known) that they had their own laws. Historically, some of the regions were independent or longtime parts of Denmark and Norway. They have more-or-less different indigenous dialects within the frameworks of North Germanic languages or Sami languages, and all have ethnic minorities.

The consumption of alcohol in the home was noted in 2006 as less than in many other European countries, owing to the government's monopoly on alcoholic beverages, but not at restaurants and bars.[1] Swedish punsch is a spirit of particular historical significance in Sweden.[2]

Sweden ranks among the top 50 nations in alcohol consumption per capita with 440 AA groups in the country working on problems with alcoholism.

Poster for The Seventh Seal

Lasse Hallström, Ingmar Bergman, Victor Sjöström and Gunnar Hellström are four of many Swedish film and television directors who have had noted international careers, and British director Colin Nutley, living in Sweden, has been highly productive there.

Swedish-born actresses and actors known internationally include Maud Adams, Malin Åkerman, Bibi Andersson, Ingrid Bergman, Britt Ekland, Greta Garbo, Signe Hasso, Felix Kjellberg, Dolph Lundgren, Helena Mattsson, Michael Nyqvist, Lena Olin, Ann-Margret Olsson, Mikael Persbrandt, Rebecca Ferguson, Noomi Rapace, Stellan Skarsgård and sons Alexander, Gustaf, and Bill, Peter Stormare, Ingrid Thulin, Alicia Vikander and Max von Sydow.

With singing popular in Sweden, of its 9 million inhabitants 600,000 belong to various choirs.[3]

Internationally known songwriters like Jörgen Elofsson and Max Martin live in Sweden.

ABBA in Rotterdam in 1979

In popular music, the ABBA group was world-famous during the 1970s and early 1980s. Roxette emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s and was also successful in the USA. Europe, Ace of Base and The Cardigans are additional Swedish pop groups that have been popular internationally.

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

Indie pop/rock has done well in Sweden. Gothenburg has spawned prominent bands and artists, thanks to labels such as Sincerely Yours and Service. 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 (band), Studio, The Embassy, The Honeydrips, Brainpool, Air France, jj, Joel Alme and Pacific!.

In contrast to its large pop music output, Sweden boasts a very prolific death metal scene. Gothenburg is known for a "melodic death metal" sound. Many bands from there, such as In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, At the Gates, The Haunted, as well as Stockholm's Amon Amarth and Opeth, have seen increased commercial success in Europe and the USA. Notable there is the popular titling of Amon Amarth's style as Viking metal. The nation is well known in the extreme metal community for its late 1980s to early 1990s death metal scene, spawning bands like Entombed, as well as more obscure, brutal bands like Repugnant and Treblinka (later called Tiamat), and especially now for Meshuggah (formed in 1987 alongside the aforementioned, but most recognized for works from 2000 thru today) and Vildhjarta. Meshuggah's lead guitarist Fredrik Thordendal is often cited as the forefather of the Djent subgenre and movement; the band is thus noted as a major influence by many modern metal bands and was certainly a force in the much wider adoption of extended range guitars (see Seven-string guitar), especially 8-string guitars. Vildhjarta, a much younger group, has found greater popularity for a much more aggressive sound they've dubbed *thall,* marked by a mix of the low, open-string tones djent is known for with use of the highest frets on the guitar, which significantly shorten the vibrating segment of the string and thus produces a very different tone, especially when overdriven.

Other Swedish music acts on the international scene are Avicii, Swedish House Mafia, Ghost, Dungen, José González, Måns Zelmerlöw, Lykke Li, Mando Diao, The Sounds, The Hives, Neverstore, Sahara Hotnights, Robyn, Movits! and The Shanes. Some are only famous on the domestic Swedish music scene, such as Kent, Håkan Hellström, Veronica Maggio, and Lars Winnerbäck.

The history of Swedish literature is heralded by runestones in Old Norse and later language variants. The oldest texts in Swedish consist of medieval laws from the 13th century and the beginning of the 14th century. During the Middle Ages most literature was of a religious nature and in Latin. The oldest longer historical source text in Swedish is Erikskrönikan. Typical Renaissance literature in Swedish appeared in the 17th century. In 1665-1668, the first novel in Swedish was published, Stratonice by Urban Hiärne. Georg Stiernhielm's poetry collection was the first one of major importance in Swedish. The main representative of non-fiction during that time is Olof Rudbeck, who came to popularize Great Swedish Gothicism with Atlantica. Gustav III promoted culture in many ways, including the establishment of the Swedish Academy.

The work of Carl Linnaeus has had a profound impact on the world of taxonomy. Other Swedish authors known around the world include August Strindberg, Astrid Lindgren, best known for several children's book series, and Selma Lagerlöf. Swedish contemporary detective works belong to the popular Nordic noir sub-genre, the most famous of them being The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo from Stieg Larsson.

Self-portrait by Anders Zorn in 1915

Anders Zorn was an internationally known image artist. Also in the 19th century, painter Carl Larsson shaped an idyllic image of domestic Swedish country life not unlike that of US artist Norman Rockwell in the USA. Among Swedish sculptors, Carl Milles and Claes Oldenburg are notable.

• Architecture of Sweden
• List of museums in Sweden
• Scandinavian Folklore

• Nordstrom, Byron J. (2010). Culture and customs of Sweden. Santa Barbara, California: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780313343711. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
• Fast, April; Thomas, Keltie (2004). Sweden: The Culture. New York: Crabtree Publishing Company. ISBN 9780778793298. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
• Máiréad Nic Craith; Johler, Reinhard; Kockel, Ullrich (2012). Everyday Culture in Europe: Approaches and Methodologies. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 9781409487807. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
• Demker, Marie; Leffler, Yvonne; Sigurdson, Ola (2014). Culture, Health, and Religion at the Millennium: Sweden Unparadised. London: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781137472236. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
• Fast, April; Thomas, Keltie (2004). Sweden, The People. New York, New York: Crabtree Publishing Company. ISBN 9780778793281. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
• Duchene, Alexandre; Monica Heller (2008). Discourses of endangerment : ideology and interest in the defence of languages ([Reprint.] ed.). London: A & C Black. ISBN 9781847063229. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
• Daun, Åke (2010). Swedish Mentality. University Park, Pennsylvania: Penn State University Press. ISBN 9780271041506. Retrieved 6 July 2015.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Culture of Sweden.

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