Corona strikes at the Swedish hug - how do we greet after the pandemic?

The cultural news asked the question to two researchers, who both believe that corona will lead to more variants of greetings.

- If the situation continues as it is today, both the hug and the handshake are threatened, it is associated with a great risk of infection, says Dan-Erik Andersson, senior lecturer in human rights at Lund University.

A survey from 2017 shows that the hug is the most serious way to greet in Sweden. In more formal contexts, handshaking also has a strong position. There are also studies that show that Swedes are more positive about hugs than, for example, Finns.

The question is whether corona's forced distancing threatens those forms of greeting, or whether it is a temporary state of emergency? Catrin Norrby, professor of Nordic languages, recalls that the du-reform in the 1960s was a rather protracted process, it can be difficult to break lifelong habits.

Now, instead of hugs and handshakes, we have created temporary alternatives that can testify to a desire to go back to the old.

- We do greeting rituals like the hug by other means. With verbal means or with large gestures at longer distances. And it shows that we still see the hug, handshake and closeness as normal, says Catrin Norrby.

See more in the clip.