Notes on Danish culture

I just got this via e-mail:

To All those interested in Denmark.
I am the author of “An Introduction to Danish Culture”

Interview with the author of An Introduction to Danish Culture’

The video interview is here:

Interview with Norman Berdichevsky from MyDenmarkTV on Vimeo.

“An Introduction to Danish Culture”

(published by McFarland and Company, September, 2011) presents a balanced portrait of Denmark, its people and their culture. This southernmost Nordic nation has been characterized by stereotypes of socialism, cradle-to-grave security, football, pornography, Hamlet, pigs, dairy cattle, and beer. My guide to Danish society, culture, and history offers an inside look at the “real” Denmark, highlighting the best of both the country and its people.

It details Denmark’s substantial contributions to science, engineering, exploration, seafaring, literature, philosophy, music, architecture, and many other fields. Brief portraits depict well-known Danes, including “Clown Prince of Denmark” Victor Borge, Hans Christian Andersen, Kierkegaard, and Out of Africa author Karen Blixen. Throughout, Denmark’s outstanding human rights record, democratic institutions, and humanistic traditions are clear. By illuminating Danish culture and clarifying misperceptions, this work fosters a greater appreciation of Denmark, its people, and their way of life.

With best wishes
Dr. Norman Berdichevsky

Items of Jewish interest are marked with an asterisk *

Norman Berdichevsky

Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-6401-2
EBook ISBN: 978-0-7864-8652-6
ca. 35 photos, maps, notes, bibliography, index
softcover 2011
Price: $45.00

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Geography and Economy
1. The Rise and Fall of the Danish Sea State
2. Danish Wind Power
3. Bornholm: Pearl of the Baltic
4. The Faroe Islands
5.”Arctic Denmark” – Greenland today
*6. “Tropical Denmark” – (How the Danish West Indies became the U.S. Virgin Islands ).
7. The Gågader – Denmark’s Pedestrian Streets.

Society, Language and National Traits
*8. Denmark’s Jewish Cemeteries; A Cultural Landmark to Tolerance
9. Jutland and Copenhagen – Stereotypes of Town and Country
10. The Danish Language
*11. The July 4th Rebild Festival & Danish-Americans
12. Hygge
13. Food and Drink Specialties

Famous Danish Personalities
*14. Piet Hein: A Dane to Remember
*15.Victor Borge, The Clown Prince of Denmark
*16. N.F.S. Grundtvig-Spiritual Father of the Nation
*17. Hans Christian Andersen
*18. Kierkegaard for Beginners
*19. Arne Sorensen and Danish Unity
*20. Arne Jacobsen, The Father of Danish Design
21. Tycho Brahe – Denmark’s Silver Nosed Astronomer
*22. Niels Bohr and the Copenhagen Mystery
23. Karen Blixen, From Rungsted to Kenya and Back
24. Queen Margrethe II

Politics and History
25. Canute and the Danelaw in England
26. The Border Issue Part One (1815-1920)
27. The Border Issue Part Two (1920-2010)
*28. The Yellow Star Legend of King Christian
*29. The “Jewish Question” and the Danish Minority during the Nazi Regime
30. Scandinavian Sibling Rivalry; Denmark vs. Sweden

Interview with Nicole Stokes DuPass, an American sociologist from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and a guest researcher at the Danish National Centre for Social Research in Copenhagen.

See more interviews at foreignersindenmark.

I’ve only this week decided to start writing about the Danes and their ways. While I was wracking my brain about how the approach the next article, I came across a blog by Peter Andreas, a 42-year old Dane with a slightly dissenting view of his own country. It’s certain to give you quite a bit of an insider’s view.