Cultural Factors of Copenhagen

The cultural elements of language, institutions, material productions, and symbolic productions can be discovered in Copenhagen by way of the music, professional activities, art, services and religion.

Since music can be thought of as a language, I think it is appropriate to discuss the strong presence of music in Copenhagen. It is a big part of the Danish culture and as Benjamin Lee Whorf believed it does structure “our social behaviors.” For example, the Friday Rock at the Tivoli Gardens has become some what of a tradition amongst Copenhangers (visitcopenhagen). The link below showcases the assortment of musical venues and the wide variety of music one can experience in Copenhagen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXjMmSnoG2w

As in the United States and other contemporary cultures, the people of Copenhagen also find that “play” has become an important aspect of their life. So much so, that the university has a class called The Culture of Play which discusses the upside and the downside of their “playful culture”.  Video games, internet, movies, and advertising are some of the topics explored in the class (ciid). This learning is taking place in an educational institution. Hence, the institutions element of culture is present here.

For the material productions element I would like to touch on two factors that can be tied to Copenhagen’s culture, artistry and service. First, artistry is an important aspect of the Danish culture. The city of Copenhagen alone has more than 50 museums. Art from the Danish Golden Age are featured as well as art from Rome, Greece, and Egypt (48hourvisit). This shows that transmitting and improving the knowledge and skills of the community are important there.

 Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek (Photo by wjries)

 Secondly, Copenhagen has an intense bike culture. Bikes outnumber the residents of Copenhagen and fifty percent of them commute via a bicycle every day. Twenty five percent of families with two children in Copenhagen are likely to own a cargo bike (denmark.dk/en/greenliving) rather than an SUV or minivan. It would look a bit strange to most people in the United States to see a girl dressed up in stilettos riding a bike, but in Copenhagen this would be commonplace, even in the worst of weathers.

Follow the link below to see a young man from Copenhagen who has made a career out of repairing bikes for people who are on the go.

http://video.denmark.dk/video/1698729/0/the-bike-man-of-copenhagen

Christianity as a symbolic production has shaped the culture of Copenhagen and Denmark as a whole. The religion is so deeply ingrained in the society that one would be able to argue its roots go deeper here than in most countries. Communal institutions and attitudes have been fashioned by Christianity. However, today the religion only plays a circuitous role in the lives of the people. For the most part the religion only becomes apparent during events that surround a birth or a death (denmark.dk/en/society).

References

http://www.48hourvisit.com/copenhagen-arts-and-culture.html

http://ciid.dk/education/external-teaching/the-culture-of-play-copenhagen-university/

http://denmark.dk/en/society/religion/

http://denmark.dk/en/green-living/bicycle-culture/copenhageners-love-their-bikes/

http://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/friday-rock-gdk474730