law of Jante

Also known as Jante Law

idea that there is a pattern of group behaviour towards individuals within Scandinavian communities that negatively portrays individual success and achievement

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Image: Sandemose Janteloven.jpg

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Plaque commemorating Aksel Sandemose and citing his Law at his birthplace in Nykøbing Mors The Law of Jante (Danish: janteloven [ˈjæntəˌlɔwˀən, -lɒwˀ-]) is a code of conduct originating in fiction and now used colloquially to denote a social attitude of disapproval towards expressions of individuality and personal success. Coined by the Danish-Norwegian author Aksel Sandemose, it has also come to represent the egalitarian nature of Scandinavian countries.

The "Law" was first formulated as ten rules in Sandemose's satirical novel A Fugitive Crosses His Tracks (En flyktning krysser sitt spor, 1933), but the attitudes themselves are older. Sandemose portrays the fictional small Danish town of Jante, modelled upon his native town Nykøbing Mors in the 1930s where nobody was anonymous, a feature of life typical of small towns.