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Scandinavian Mettle
The false association between Scandinavia and melancholy
From Bergman to Black Metal, exports of Scandinavian life through the arts have led to a portrayal of Nordic countries as melancholic and desolate. Yet, the constitution of the Nords is far more robust than many would have you believe. After all anyone who can survive half a year of darkness and bitter winters below-zero demands respect…
The Dark Arts
Scandinavian arts have often displayed the harder, unspoken sides of life. The films of Ingmar Bergman are a perfect example. The work of the acclaimed Swedish director is characterised by bleak narratives centred on the despair of contemporary society and life. Similarly, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen explored bleak realities of family life such as in his famed play A Doll’s House. However, the comedic undercurrents in both also display the resilience of their disposition.
In the early 1980s heavy metal music, including death metal, black metal and gothic, emerged in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. The genre quickly became the anthem for youth movements and entered national psyches. In 1983 Danish band King Diamond pioneered Black Metal. A decade later Norway took the reigns producing of one of the world’s best death metal bands, Emperor. Meanwhile Sweden was developing the gothic music scene with legendary artist Roger Karmanik pioneering the Cold Meat Industry label and Finnish band, Hanoi Rocks were evolving their garage rock into glam metal. Critics of the oft-berated genre were quick to link the dark undertones of the music with a forlorn temperament, of course linking this to a harsh climate and lifestyle.
SADs and Suicide
Seasonal Affective Disorder has gained much publicity since it was first researched in the 1980s. SADs, as it is commonly termed, is a form of depression related to seasonal weather changes. Common treatments include anti-depressants but also the administering of melatonin and, not surprisingly, light therapy. It is most popularly, and erroneously, attributed with the short days of northern winters affecting those living above or near the article circle. While there is evidence to show that SADs is rife in the Scandinavian region, some psychologists argue that indigenous inhabitants are acclimatised to such changes. Instead, the prevalence of SADs in many Nordic countries may be attributed to newer unaccustomed migrant populations.
Another inaccurately aligned evidence for the dispirited disposition of Nords has been comparisons of perceived suicide rates. Again this argument dovetails neatly with the ‘proofs’ proffered in SADs and heavy metal music. Yet, we as humans are good at applying false causality – e.g. heavy metal music leads to suicide. After all it is quite simply just another of thousands of different sub-groups in society. Despite perceptions that suicide rates are high in Scandinavian countries the number of deaths per 100,000 is significantly lower per regional bloc than other sunnier parts of Europe, notably Eastern European countries. While Finland has the 10th highest suicide rate in Europe (45 per 100,000 deaths), Sweden, Denmark and Iceland all come in far lower than France and slightly lower than Germany. Suicide in Scandinavian countries is not as overblown as myth would have us believe. Indeed, if we were to use the same causality as myth, heavy metal music and SADs could be an indictor for lower rates of suicide and perhaps even for a warmer temperament.
So if it is the migrant populations and other non-indigenous inhabitants who are actually partly to blame for the prevalence of SADs; if mythical figures aren’t accurate; and the countries continue to sustain many more Ibsens and Bergmans, then perhaps thrashing around to heavy metal music is the best way to warm the heart in winter. One thing is for sure - the mettle of Scandinavians is alive and strong.