The Cultural Bridge · Culture & Society

In Jamaica, when someone does well, you might hear “Big up yuhself!” It is praise, respect and encouragement in three words: be proud, you earned it. In Norway, a very different instinct runs through daily life. It even has a name: Janteloven, the Law of Jante.

Having lived with both for decades, I have come to think that each culture has hold of half a truth.

What Janteloven is

The phrase comes from Aksel Sandemose’s 1933 novel A Fugitive Crosses His Tracks, set in a fictional small town called Jante. Its rules boil down to one message: do not think you are anything special, and do not think you are better than us.

Sandemose was criticizing that attitude, but the name stuck as a description of something real in Scandinavian life: a dislike of bragging, a suspicion of people who stand out too much, and a deep commitment to equality. Many Norwegians today say Janteloven is fading, especially among the young. Yet you still feel it in how people talk about their success, usually quietly, often with a joke at their own expense.

What “big up yuhself” means

Jamaican culture leans the other way. Confidence is encouraged. Children are told to speak up and stand tall. Achievements are celebrated out loud. This is a small island that believes it can compete with anyone, and very often does.

That confidence has carried Jamaicans through hardship and onto world stages. It can also, at times, tip into bravado, or make it harder to admit when you need help.

When the two meet

Put a confident Jamaican in a Norwegian job interview and the interviewer may wonder if they are boasting. Put a modest Norwegian in a Jamaican business meeting and their partners may wonder if they believe in their own product. Both are misreadings. The Jamaican is being normal. So is the Norwegian.

[YOUR STORY: a moment when your Jamaican confidence was misread in Norway, or when you saw Norwegian modesty undersell something excellent.]

What each gets right

Janteloven, at its best, protects equality and humility. It reminds us that nobody is above anyone else, and that the cleaner and the chief executive deserve the same respect. Big up yuhself, at its best, protects dignity and hope. It reminds us that our gifts are real and worth using.

The healthiest confidence, I believe, holds both: secure enough to celebrate what you do well, humble enough to celebrate others just as loudly.

A practical middle way

• Talk about results, not about yourself: “We delivered three weeks early” lands well in both cultures.
• Give credit generously. It makes your own confidence easier for others to accept.
• If you are naturally modest, practice saying one clear sentence about what you are good at.
• If you are naturally bold, practice asking one more question before you share your answer.

So go ahead: big up yuhself. Then turn around and big up the person next to you.

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Colin Beharie is a Jamaican-born author, business leader and speaker who has lived in Norway since 1987. Read more in Good Luck With That!, and join The Beharie Letter every Sunday.