(2017) Danish – Cultural key words: LIVET

Published on October 15, 2017. Last updated on September 13, 2018.

Hamann, Magnus & Levisen, Carsten (2017). Talking about livet ‘life’ in Golden Age Danish: Semantics, discourse and cultural models. In Carsten Levisen & Sophia Waters (Eds.), Cultural keywords in discourse (pp. 107-129). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI: 10.1075/pbns.277.05ham

This chapter explicates the word livet, literally ‘the life’, a cultural key word of the Danish Golden Age (1800-1850). With evidence from Golden Age Danish and its era-specific webs of words, it explores how “life and living” were construed discursively and how they relate to contemporary discourses of the good life in English and the related Danish calque det gode liv. The authors argue that era-specific cultural semantics should not be seen as being substantially different from other kinds of culture-specific discourses and that historical varieties such as Golden Age Danish can help us dismantle the hegemonic modern and Anglo take on “narratives of life” that dominate contemporary global discourse.

Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

	Crude application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner
	Approximate application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner
	Sound application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner
	Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
	Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners