Law of Jante

The Law of Jante (Danish: Janteloven, IPA: [ˈjandəˌlovˀən]; Norwegian Bokmål: Janteloven, IPA: [ˈjɑntəˌlɔːvn̩], Nynorsk: Jantelova; Icelandic: Jantelögin; Swedish: Jantelagen, IPA: [ˈjantɛˌlɑːɡɛn]) is the description of a pattern of group behaviour towards individuals within Nordic countries that negatively portrays and criticises individual success and achievement as unworthy and inappropriate. The Jante Law as a concept was created by the Dano-Norwegian author Aksel Sandemose, who, in his novel A Fugitive Crosses His Tracks (En flyktning krysser sitt spor, 1933, English translation published in the USA in 1936), identified the Law of Jante as ten rules. Sandemose's novel portrays the small Danish town Jante (modelled upon his native town Nykøbing Mors as it was at the beginning of the 20th century, but typical of all small towns and communities), where nobody is anonymous.

Used generally in colloquial speech in the Nordic countries as a sociological term to describe a condescending attitude towards individuality and success, the term refers to a mentality that de-emphasises individual effort and places all emphasis on the collective, while simultaneously denigrating those who try to stand out as individual achievers.

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