Abstract
In the second half of the 19th century, a wave of modernization, industrialization and urbanization swept the Nordic countries, catapulting what had until then been lagging and primarily rural countries into modernity. These major upheavals, however, also plunged the Nordic countries into a profound social and cultural crisis resulting from their consciousness of their own backwardness vis-a-vis the countries on the European continent, as well as the recognition that a nostalgic nationalism recalling a mythical past had become obsolete in the industrial age. In response to this crisis, a life reform movement emerged that was based on Arts and Crafts movements as well as various artistic and literary reform movements and—equally absorbing rural traditions and progressive social ideas—tried to establish a new national everyday culture. In this article, the two key terms coined by Ellen Key, “Festive Customs” (“festvanor”) and “Everyday Beauty” (“vardagsskönhet”)—the programmatic core of the Nordic life reform movement—are analysed and illustrated in various typical manifestations. It also examines to what extent the Nordic life reform movement with these two key concepts as its core agenda found expression in arts and crafts, in painting as well as in the architecture of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century and contributed to the progress of social and cultural renewal.
Highlights
In the second half of the 19th century, a wave of modernization, industrialization and urbanization swept the Nordic countries, catapulting what had until been lagging and primarily rural countries on the margins of Europe into modernity
The life reformist renewal movement, which arose in the Nordic countries as a response to the crisis resulting from industrialisation, extended far beyond the reform of individual spheres of life
The concepts of “Festive Customs” and “Everyday Beauty” promoted by Ellen Key played a decisive role, as they provided the programmatic basis for a festive enrichment of everyday life as well as applying an aesthetic assessment to all its aspects
Summary
In the second half of the 19th century, a wave of modernization, industrialization and urbanization swept the Nordic countries, catapulting what had until been lagging and primarily rural countries on the margins of Europe into modernity. Numerous Nordic artists and writers were drawn to the European continent, especially to France and Germany, where some were more successful than in their home countries (Henningsen et al 1997) These major upheavals plunged the Nordic countries into a profound social and cultural crisis resulting from their consciousness of their own backwardness vis-a-vis the countries on the European continent, as well as the recognition that a nostalgic nationalism recalling a mythical past had become obsolete in the industrial age and could no longer suffice as the foundation of a cultural identity In so doing it examines the question of to what extent the Nordic life reform movement with these two key concepts as its core agenda found expression in arts and crafts, in painting as well as in the architecture of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century and contributed to the progress of social and cultural renewal
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