The Norwegian country cabin and functionalism: a tale of two modernities

Abstract

The mountain or shore-side cabin (hytte) represents a common leisure form for a significant proportion of the Norwegian population. Its roots can be traced to the decline of farming society, growing urbanisation and an emphasis on the outdoor life as part of 20th-century state modernising projects. Throughout this modern history, and through periods of accelerated social change, the cabin has represented an 'other' form of domesticity. This paper makes the argument that far from representing an escape from post-industrial consumer society, the hytte prompts evaluation, comparison or negation of normative domesticity for its occupants. Many priorities such as getting back-to-nature and living the simple life are achieved best, paradoxically, through their material manifestation. Routine and rupture, and discourse surrounding farming culture artefacts are central in evoking contrast.

Sustainable urbanisation? Norwegian cabin culture in transition

“…Cabins in this scheme are located in pockets of the pre-modern engagement with nature within a modern or post-modern world. Krogh (1995), in line with Garvey (2008) and Kaltenborn et al (2005), finds in his interviews with cabin owners and locals a description of life in nature, which is in sharp contrast to other sites where they work or live (p. 17). This alterity of a life closer to and in practical engagement with nature is a reoccurring theme in descriptions of imaginations connected to Norwegian cabins.…”

‘A solid partner in a fluid world’ and/or ‘line of flight’? Interpreting second homes in the era of mobilities

“…From this perspective, almost all aspects of the second home, from its (typically) rural location, to its simple design and layout, to the activities undertaken there, to its association with leisure not work, to the time-space rhythms of its consumption, can be seen as opposite to those of the primary home. Hence, perhaps rather than expressing flight, escape is the negation of the primary home experience (Garvey 2008).…”

“The Normal Cabin's Revenge”

“…Domestic debate about the significance and role of cabins has contested the Romantic idea that the cabin represents a break with modern life, a refuge from the everyday, to argue that the cabin is as much a product of everyday life and modernity (see also Garvey 2008). Domestic debate about the significance and role of cabins has contested the Romantic idea that the cabin represents a break with modern life, a refuge from the everyday, to argue that the cabin is as much a product of everyday life and modernity (see also Garvey 2008).…”