Saskia was invited to the Dutch Broadcasting (NPO) Listen Podcast Festival, to join the conversation on the origins of the Dutch word and phenomenon ‘gezelligheid’. It’s one of those words that is impossible to translate yet used very frequently and therefore, it has a story to tell about Dutch culture. It is a combination of coziness, sociability and conviviality. In the interview, Saskia distinguishes two types of ‘gezelligheid’: physical and social.
On the one hand, there is the decoration of house, garden, caravan or windowsill. Just as the Dutch create their own land from the sea, the same behavior continues in the way they create coziness and atmosphere with the arrangement of the seats, pictures on the toilet and two candles in the window sill. That way they make things nice, cozy and welcoming. Very ‘gezellig’, they say.
On the other hand, it is about the social aspect: how do we treat each other, what is the norm and why is ‘gezelligheid’, a good atmosphere, so important? There, too, we find the roots within the Dutch water management system. The Dutch may at times be very direct and they do so in order to gather as many opinions as possible (what water levels work for different people and what interests are at stake); but after this, consensus must be reached. At that point, harsh confrontation and extreme opinions are no longer desired. Look at the behavior at the Dutch talking tables on television or the seating of people in a circle conversing with each other during a birthday party: everyone is allowed to participate but with some modesty and, above all, let’s keep it convivial!
For those who can understand Dutch, listen to the podcast for more viewpoints here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0g2PuUlM2wRtQA851SC4sw?si=n3D09eJWTfmOBNpcvVAA0w&context=spotify%3Ashow%3A1lr6j4z70G5xke70V6nHhI
