The Art Of Being A Negro In Norway (Kunsten å vere neger)

Are Kalvø: Kunsten å vere neger (The art of being negro)

The Norwegian Samlaget 1996, cheap edition 1998 --This is an honest attempt to create a fun anti-racist book. The book is designed as an ironic textbook that aims to teach foreigners how they should behave to be accepted by native Norwegians, and contains quantities of actual example of what the Norwegians have learned about foreign cultures through the ages, from crime fiction, textbooks , travel accounts, missionary literature, advertising, Thorbjørn Egner, Banana Airlines and Norwegian politicians.

This is the only one of my books has its own CD. CD contains the following authentic example of Norwegian popular on foreign countries and people: "I have seen a negro man" (sweetly performed by child star Darla), "Skopusser'n" (The Singing Housewives sing on his show about a very black and very happy shoeshine who work around the clock, but dances all the time anyway, because he has the rhythm of the blood), "Bo-bo Brazilian" (Anita Heger Land heyday sing for a musical latinamerikanar who would rather have bananas than fame) and "Some children are brown" (classic kjenslevar new recordings with Beranek).

This is also the only one of my books that focus international attention. I have been interviewed about this book on Danish TV. They said at least that they were from the Danish TV, and it was about the only thing I understood from that conversation. The book is well as featured in a section of a larger article about Norway in the Italian magazine "Il Venerdi". The section contains so many words that makes me uneasy (including "vademecum") that I have never dared to get it translated into Norwegian. The most important thing is that the opening chapter of "The art of being negro" is translated into German and published in the heavy German literary magazine "Der Rabe" titled "Where Art, a Negro in Norwegen zu sein."

Bitar of the book are also the cinematic. Three episodes were made ​​for this page fundamental.net, with Norway's fun nagged Pakistani Zahid Ali in the role of the foreign culture.

The art of being funny.

Are Kalvø: "The art of being negro"

Samlaget 1996

Being a negro in Norway without arousing indignation is not easy. It is an art.

"Therefore it is important that you are not exotic and colorful everywhere and always. But when you're going to be exotic, it is important that you are properly exotic."

The Are Kalvø tip. He is joking with Norwegian prejudice partial results, partly prejudiced manner. He raljerer of "eksotiseringen" of the foreign - that we are doing so terribly special to be Norwegian. Kalvø think it is foolish to be surprised that people look different or have different habits than the small fraction of Norwegian affiliations in the world. It's okay, but there is also a global phenomenon that need not moralize as surmaget of either. Especially not in a tentative comic book. It's probably the same proportion as any of the Norwegian text excerpts describe: that people in a negro village, scrambling around the incredibly strange white. What is normally%% is probably a matter of perspective, there as here. But Kalvø treat this phenomenon as if it were a distinctively Norwegian specialty, while his sarcasms seems somewhat obvious.

The book should imagine a kind of manual to the Norwegian, the average Norwegian's perceptions, habits and prejudices. Can you do this, you will be accepted, even if you are a negro. Kalvø is critical, critical, since y'know, and discloses the Norwegian way of ridicule, such practices are usable. They will laugh at the others (those with prejudices) can see the neighbor be taken at the point. Yes, Kalvø is often funny, often striking. But most of all, I think he threw himself on the mouth.

Kalvø even live to spread the general pejorative characteristics. His Metier is to provide a nidbilde of Norwegian society. And we love it, as the caricature often magnifies the traits that certainly exists, and that it is wise to familiarize themselves with. As he writes:

"If a Norwegian forget to wash the stairs when it's his turn, it is because he is distracted or lazy. If a negro forget to wash the stairs when it's his turn, it is because he is a negro."

Moral: Be ​​aware that individual characteristics are not the cultural arts properties as soon as they come up with immigrants.

Such a morality would, if it should apply to all, do unemployed writer of the day. Is there anyone who lives by playing on stereotypes, it is Kalvø. This book is full of humorous tentatively characteristics of Moringa, northerners, Norwegians - just in major general. The whole book's concept is to describe the typical Norwegian. To do this he has chosen the most exaggerated in books and hit text to document a general xenophobic attitude that "typically Norwegian".

I think it is both prudent and useful to use humor to prejudice against immigrants. Humor often combine the familiar and the unexpected, and as such can help to turn upside down on a "serious" mindset - where such immigrants of necessity is a "problem" or a "commitment" - not an ordinary citizen.

In Kalvø book is the Norwegian who is a problem, the Norwegian with his unique and distinctive culture. To suggest that people from Latin America in general have different concepts of punctuality in relation to the agreed time than a Norwegian or a German - it is quite loose mood taboo as racism by Kalvø. It is in such cases only the individual who will be judged. At the same time paying Kalvø with generous hand of the negative characteristics of the Norwegian culture in general, greatest, or he has (often quite funny) visits within small sub-cultures in our country. It seems very pious of Kalvø - and perhaps reflects how far to go before one can treat people from other countries that most Norwegians.

Like the Odd Børretzen book on "the art to understand and use a Norwegian" I think this book misses much of the author's usual critical potential. Reviews come from outside, on behalf of the good morals. At times it becomes very outside and very humorless in his biting sarcasms. And even worse, what humor: it is predictable. From what I can see, the author and I quite agree with what their own views and prejudices involved. So it is, from what I can see from the book, probably us and a couple other three back. Towards the dregs of society. Surrounded by Duster, go into your time. There is nothing to laugh at, if one buys the book's description. I do not. (source: Ivar Bakke)