Sweden: culture
Swedish authors of worldwide recognition include Henning Mankell, Carolus Linnaeus (the father of botany), Emanuel Swedenborg, August Strindberg, Selma Lagerlöf, Vilhelm Moberg, Harry Martinson and Astrid Lindgren, the author of the Pippi Longstocking books.
Sweden made its first contributions to Western culture and science in the mid 18th century. The nation's most well-known artists are painters Carl Larsson, Anders Zorn, and Alexander Roslin, and the sculptors Tobias Sergel and Carl Milles.
Some well-known inventions and discoveries, historical and modern, were made by Swedes. Some notable figures are Alfred Nobel, Anders Celsius, Baltzar von Platen, Carl Wilhelm Scheele, Jöns Jakob Berzelius, John Ericsson, Anders Jonas Ångström, Lars Magnus Ericsson, Svante Arrhenius, Arvid Carlsson, Håkan Lans.
Swedish 20th century culture is noted by pioneering works in the early days of cinema, with Mauritz Stiller and Victor Sjöström. In the 1920s–1980s, the filmmakers Ingmar Bergman and Bo Widerberg received Academy Awards, and actresses Greta Garbo, Ingrid Bergman, Ann-Margret, Lena Olin, Zarah Leander, and Anita Ekberg made careers abroad. The actors Max von Sydow, Stellan Skarsgård, Dolph Lundgren and Peter Stormare are also worth mentioning. More recently, the films of Lukas Moodysson and Lasse Hallström have received international recognition.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s Sweden was perceived as an international leader in what is now referred to as the "sexual revolution",[citation needed] with gender equality particularly promoted.[citation needed] At the present time, the number of single people is one of the highest in the world. Some Swedish films reflected a liberal view of sexuality, including scenes of love making that caught international attention, and introduced the concept of the "Swedish sin". However, Sweden was at that time not as sexually liberal as people believed. Sweden has also become, in recent decades, fairly liberal regarding homosexuality, as is reflected in the popular acceptance of films such as Fucking Åmål (In English: Show Me Love), and the popular writer Jonas Gardell, among others. In Sweden many gay and lesbian celebrities live openly without causing a stir, much as in many other Western countries. In the absence of legislation on same-sex marriages, Sweden has a civil union for same sex couples ("registered partnership").
Music
Sweden has a rich musical tradition, ranging from medieval folk ballads to house music. The music of the pre-Christian Norse has been lost to history, although there have been historical attempts to recreate how it could have sounded based on instruments found in Viking sites. Instruments used were the lur (a sort of trumpet), simple string instruments, wooden flutes and drums. It is possible that the Viking musical legacy lives on in some of the old Swedish folk music, but Sweden and neighboring Norway are mostly Christian countries doesn't indicate the rising interest of Viking or Germanic neo-pagan religious elements in 21st century Scandinavian culture.
Carl Michael Bellman, Wilhelm Stenhammar, Wilhelm Peterson-Berger, Hugo Alfvén, Franz Berwald, and Johan Helmich Roman are among Sweden's great classical composers. The best-known opera singers are the 19th century soprano Jenny Lind and the 20th century tenor Jussi Björling, who had great success abroad. Björling is considered by many to be the epitome of a great tenor. Also sopranos Christina Nilsson, Birgit Nilsson, and tenor Nicolai Gedda, baritone Håkan Hagegård and the contemporary mezzo-soprano Anne-Sofie von Otter have become known in the world of opera. Evert Taube, Povel Ramel, Cornelis Vreeswijk are all popular modern troubadours, considered to be classics in Swedish music.
In the world of jazz, Monica Zetterlund achieved international renown, both as a singer and as an actress. Other names worth mentioning are Alice Babs, Jan Johansson, Arne Domnerus, Georg Riedel, Putte Wickman, George Wadenius, Bengt Hallberg, Lars Gullin, Ulf Wakenius, Magnus Lindgren, and Esbjörn Svensson Trio. Some Swedish easy listening/contemporary groups and artists who are not as well-known internationally but are recognized in Sweden include Peter Jöback, Lill-Babs Svensson, Ted Gärdestad, Gyllene Tider, Helen Sjöholm, and Patrik Isaksson.
Sweden also has a significant folk-music scene, both in the traditional style as well as more modern interpretations which often mix in elements of rock and jazz. Väsen is more of a traditionalist group, using a unique traditional Swedish instrument called the nyckelharpa while Garmarna, Nordman, and Hedningarna have more modern elements. Lena Willemark is a popular folk musician. There is also Saami music, called the joik, which is actually a type of chant which is part of the traditional Saami animistic spirituality but has gained recognition in the international world of folk music as well. Sweden has a major market for new age and ecologically or environmentally aware music, as well a large portion of pop and rock music have liberal and left-wing political messages, a testiment to Sweden's tradition of free expression.
ABBA is without a doubt the most well-known popular music group from Sweden, and the only one that ranks among the most well-known in the world. ABBA were Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, and Benny Andersson, and whose first name initials create the palindrome "ABBA." With ABBA, Sweden entered into a new era, in which Swedish pop music gained international prominence. Sweden is, after the US and the UK, the largest exporter of pop and rock music in the world. [citation needed] ABBA-members Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus have been very successful in musical theatre, with their international hit Mamma Mia!, as well as Chess, and Kristina från Duvemåla, which was a huge success in Sweden. An English version is expected to hit Broadway in 2007.
Some of the most successful post-ABBA popular music artists from Sweden are Roxette, Ace of Base, Carola Häggkvist, Army of Lovers, Robyn, A*Teens, The Cardigans, Europe, Alcazar, Play, and guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen. A number of bands with less emphasis on pop music have come out of the country in recent years, including Eskobar, Clawfinger, The Sounds, José González, The Hives, Hardcore Superstar, Millencolin, Sahara Hotnights, The Hellacopters, Kent, The Ark, Infinite Mass, Love is All, I'm From Barcelona, The Knife,The Shout Out Louds, Looptroop, Caesars and Stefan Olsdal of Placebo. Such has been the success of music abroad that clubs specializing in Swedish music have sprung up in major cities like, Berlin, Barcelona and London where the likes of Tack!Tack!Tack! the Monthly Swedish Music club is produced.
In underground circles, Sweden is known for a large number of heavy metal (mostly death metal and melodic death metal), as well as Progressive bands. Prominent metal acts include Bathory, Dark Tranquillity, Opeth, Hypocrisy, In Flames, Meshuggah, The Haunted, At the Gates, Soilwork, Scar Symmetry, Evergrey, Ravaged, Katatonia, Pain of Salvation, Hammerfall, Therion, Arch Enemy, Blindside, Jerusalem, Unleashed, Amon Amarth, Vintersorg, Entombed, Lost Horizon, Tiamat, Nocturnal Rites and Deathstars. Successful progressive/psychedelic acts are for example Bo Hansson, Dungen, Anekdoten, Morte Macabre, Paatos, Trettioåriga Kriget and Mecki Mark Men, and the controversial American "grindcore"/pagan metal band Kult of Lilith had a greater audience in Sweden than in the US, since back in the country where many rock fans find the song's subject matter as taboo.
In the synth world, the band S.P.O.C.K is still active since the late 1980's. Sweden is also responsible for the Swechno scene, offering a distinct house and techno sound, of which artists like Adam Beyer is famous. More recently, the so-called Swedish House Mafia including Steve Angello, Sebastian Ingrosso, Axwell, and Eric Prydz have topped the house music charts and DJ top 10s around the world. Also worth mentioning are Joakim Thåström and his punk band Ebba Grön. Sweden is also home to several influential emo and hardcore punk bands, such as Fireside, The Last Days Of April, Kelly 8 and landmark post-hardcore band Refused. In 2005, Basshunter has become popular with his eurodance songs, mostly about computer games. Sweden is also known in the hardcore world for more aggressive bands like Mob 47, Anti Cimex, Dismember, and The S**tlckers. In the 1990's, Valkyria was a folk-techno band known to sing both ultra-conservative, Viking/old Swedish and eco-fascist lyrics nearly rival that of German techno-rock band Rammstein, but the two bands openly oppose Nazism and prejudice.
But in Sweden and neighboring Norway, the countries are crucial centers of controversial rock music genres: Black metal, Death metal, and Neo-Nazi techno-rock movements since the 1980's and 1990's, tests the limits of freedom of expression in a "liberal" country like Sweden that does have staunch anti-hate speech laws. Many Swedish and other European anti-"shock rock" activists dislike the bands' messages on teens and young adults, and undoubtedly, most Swedes usually don't tolerate songs glorifying illicit drugs, sexual fetishism and violence; and some radical kinds, like National Socialist Black Metal combines Norse/Viking pagan with anti-Semitic or anti-Christian lyrics, also their songs are about subjects contain excessive profanity or obscenity; pro-racist, neo-fascist and extreme right-wing lyrics.
Source: Wikipedia