No. 1

Gunhild AggerMyth and History of Culture in Danish

Advent Calendars,Scandinavian Cinema and Christmas,

Lund University, 6 December 2012

No. 2

Outline

• Introducing the Danish TV Advent calendar

• Calendars and folklore• Brief genre history: traditions and

developments• Myth and history of culture in advent

calendars• Alletiders jul (TV 2, 1994)• Successors and perspectives

No. 3

Choice

• Four Advent calendars are typically screened at the public service stations DR and TV 2:

• two targeting the whole family and • two targeting grownups. • In both cases, reruns are common. • The regional stations often present an

Advent calendar on radio or television. • Most of the classical Advent calendars can

be acquired on DVD

No. 4

Audiences: DR ratings

1. Nissebanden i Grønland (1993): 1.136.000 viewers

2. Jul i Gammelby (rerun, 1994): 891.000 viewers

3. Pagten (2009): 859.000 viewers

4. Nissebanden i Grønland (rerun, 2011): 852.000 viewers

5. Nissebanden (1992): 851.000 viewers

No. 5

Audiences: TV 2 ratings

1. Andersens Julehemmelighed(1993):1.651.000 viewers

2. Alletiders Jul (1994): 1.390.000 viewers

3. Alletiders Nisse (1995): 1.364.000 viewers

4. Skibet i skilteskoven (1992): 1.329.000 viewers

5. Brødrene Mortensens Jul (1998): 1.289.000 viewers

No. 6

Hypotheses

• New generations are raised to whom the old calendars are new

• Older generations amuse themselves with the pleasure of repetition in the light of remembrance

• The TV stations are able to vary the genre by renewing it, - making it comment its time- making use of myth and history of culture

No. 7

The Calendar Tradition

• The almanac genre: information about holidays, seasons, weather, names, constellation of stars and all sorts of practical and religious advice

• Printed cardboard Advent calendars targeting a children’s audience published in Germany 1903, imported to Denmark 1932: model for later editions on radio and TV

• 1962: the first Danish Advent calendar after Swedish model (1960)

No. 8

The Folklore Tradition

• ‘jul’ (literally ‘yule’): a common Nordic word for an old celebration – solstice

• Jørn Piø 1977: grotesque, thrilling and horror elements a part of earlier Christmas traditions:

• plays, cf. Ludvig Holberg’s comedy Julestuen (1724)

• ghost stories and a consciousness of a special proximity to supernatural phenomena

No. 9

The 19th Century

• Development of national identity and prevalent traditions of Christmas (surprise gifts, tree)

• The most beloved hymns and carols by B.S. Ingemann and N.F. S. Grundtvig: Christmas as the celebration of the hearts

• National symbols on the Christmas tree from 1850

No. 10

Brief Genre History: The puppet calendars

Target group: small children(and their parents)

Rasmus Tagmusin Kender du Decembervej? 1967Vinterbyøster 1974”that’s where I’m postman”The children in powerGrownups kind, but confused

No. 11

Brief Genre History: the family calendar

Target group: the whole family Jul i Gammelby (DR 1979): parallel worlds

Jul på slottet DR 1986 (manuscript: Martin Miehe-Renard)

No. 12

Brief Genre History: Renewal of the family calendar tradition

• Alletiders jul (1994) • Alletiders nisse (1995) • Alletiders julemand (1997) • Pyrus på pletten (a feature film, 2000) • Pyrus i alletiders eventyr (2000)• myth and cultural history in a combination

of entertainment and information

No. 13

• “Tider går / Tider skal komme […] Julen er gammel / og julen er ny / julen er aldrig den samme” (Ages pass / Ages shall come […] Yule is old / and Yule is new / Yule is never the same)

• The first lines refer directly to a beloved hymn by B.S. Ingemann (1850): “Tider skal komme / tider skal henrulle / slægt skal følge slægters gang” (Ages shall come / Ages shall pass / Generation shall follow generation)

Alletiders jul: Time

No. 14

Alletiders jul: Location

• Rigsarkivet, the public record office in Copenhagen stored with books and paperscrolls from all ages

• Inhabited by the Bertramsen, the lonely keeper of the public records, and Guttenborg, Bertramsen’s counterpart in the pixie world

No. 15

Alletiders jul: Parallel archive worlds

Bertramsen with Josefine Guttenberg withBrahe, his assistant Pyrus, his

assistant

No. 16

The concept of Christmas reconstructed

• Tracing yule back in history• Beginning in the Iron and Bronze ages,

finding a wheel and later the sun chariot• Finding the Vikings drinking yule• The myths of the Nordic gods: A visit to

Asgaard via Bifrost, the Rainbow bridge • Meeting Hejmdal, the gate keeper • In Asgaard, meeting Freja, the goddess of

love

No. 17

Hans Christian Andersen

• The little match-seller (1845) visualized as a tableau in the Tivoli Gardens exhibiting the little match-seller’s imaginations of the good family life with its well-provided table, its Christmas tree and gifts

• The Fir Tree (1844): Hans Christian Andersen’s imagination apparently inspired by the presence of Pyrus, playing with the concept of time

No. 18

Tradition and innovation

• Pyrus wishes renewal of the traditions • In his song “Cool jul” he advocates modernization

of Christmas in form of modern music, speed, colours

• His rebellion: a very direct manner of approaching people and telling them the truth as he perceives it

• But there are limits: harmony between generations and mutual interest of keeping up Christmas traditions in the light of continuity – provided by myth and cultural history – is stressed

No. 19

Successors

• Jul i Valhal (TV 2, 2005, rerun 2012): The Fimbul winter, preceding Ragnarok

• Myth applied in a tale about challenges to the connection between nature and civilization

• Absalons hemmelighed (DR 1, 2006): a quest structure requiring – and providing – knowledge of early medieval history

• Pagten (DR1 2009): the problem of bullying in a school class, contrasting the values of pixies and imaginative children to the power of the Ice Witch

No. 20

Perspectives

• The calendars function as a mirror of tendencies in contemporary society, focusing on the consequences of globalization and climate issues

• Knowledge of myths and cultural history is needed to prevent respectively death and apocalypse and to reconcile attitudes and values