Scandinavian Crime Fiction

Description

This collection of articles studies the development of crime fiction in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden since the 1960s, offering the first English-language study of this widely read and influential form. Since the first Martin-Beck novel of Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo appeared in 1965, the socially-critical crime novel has figured prominently in Scandinavian culture, and found hundreds of millions of readers outside Scandinavia. But is there truly a Scandinavian crime novel tradition? Scandinavian Crime Fiction identifies distinct features and changes in the Scandinavian crime tradition through analysis of some of its most well-known writers: Henning Mankell, Stieg Larsson, Anne Holt, Liza Marklund, Leena Lehtolainen, and Arnaldur Indrioason, among others. Focusing on Scandinavian crime fiction's snowballing prominence since the 1990s, articles zoom in on the transformation of the genre's social criticism, study the significance of cultural and geographical place in the tradition, and analyze the cultural politics of crime fiction, including struggles over gender equity, sexuality, ethnicity, history, and the fate of the welfare state. Scandinavian Crime Fiction maps out the contribution of Scandinavian crime writers to contemporary European culture and society, making the volume valuable to scholars and the interested public.
Introduction Andrew Nestingen and Paula Arvas I. Genre revision 1. Swedish cops in the new millennium: The transformation of the police procedural Kerstin Bergman, Lund University, Sweden. 2. High crime in contemporary Scandinavian literature: Peter Hoeg's Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow Magnus Persson, Malmo University, Sweden 3. Nordic crime fiction and the opacity of social life Andrew Nestingen II. Crime and affect 4. The place of pessimism in Henning Mankell's 'Kurt Wallander' novels Shane McCorristine, University College Dublin 5. Not the usual suspects: Hakan Nesser and collateral guilt in the north Sylvia Soderlind, Queen's University in Kingston, Canada III. Contested identities 6. Contesting the past: Rewriting history in modern Scandinavian crime fiction Karsten Wind Meyhoff, University of Copenhagen, Denmark 7. National identity in contemporary Icelandic crime fiction Katrin Jakobsdottir 8. The final frontier: Finland and Russia in Nordic crime fiction since the 2000s Paula Arvas IV. Intermediality 9. Dirty Harry in the Swedish welfare state Michael Tapper, Lund University, Sweden 10. Making Swedish crime queens: Maria Lang, Liza Marklund and Camilla Lackberg Sara Karrholm 11. Gender at the margins in contemporary Nordic crime fiction on TV and in print Karen Klitgaard Povlsen, University of Aarhus

Sujets

• Literary Criticism
• Idioma inglés
• Northern Europe
• North Germanic languages
• Scandinavia
• English
• Scandinavie
• Anglais

Informations

• Publié par: University of Wales Press
• Date de parution: 15 janvier 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780708323311
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

European Crime Fictions
Scandinavian
Crime Fiction
Edited by
Paula Arvas and
Andrew Nestingen
University of Wales Press
Royal cover template.indd 1 14/03/2011 14:57:38Royal cover template.indd 2 14/03/2011 14:57:3800 PrelimsScandinavian_15_12_10:Template 15/12/2010 15:10 Page i
SCANDINAVIAN CRIME FICTION00 PrelimsScandinavian_15_12_10:Template 15/12/2010 15:10 Page ii
Series Editors
Claire Gorrara (Cardiff University)
Shelley Godsland (University of Birmingham)
Giuliana Pieri (Royal Holloway, London)
Editorial Board
Margaret Atack (University of Leeds)
George Demko (Dartmouth College)
John Foot (University College London)
Stephen Knight (Cardiff University)
Nickianne Moody (Liverpool John Moores University)
Elfriede Müller (Berlin)
Anne White (University of Bradford)00 PrelimsScandinavian_15_12_10:Template 15/12/2010 15:10 Page iii
EUROPEAN CRIME FICTIONS
SCANDINAVIAN CRIME FICTION
Edited by
Andrew Nestingen and Paula Arvas
CARDIFF
UNIVERSITY OF WALES PRESS
201100 PrelimsScandinavian_15_12_10:Template 15/12/2010 15:10 Page iv
© The Contributors, 2011
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any material form
(including photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic means and
whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication)
without the written permission of the copyright owner except in accordance with
the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Applications for
the copyright owner’s written permission to reproduce any part of this publication
should be addressed to The University of Wales Press, 10 Columbus Walk,
Brigantine Place, Cardiff, CF10 4UP.
www.uwp.co.uk
British Library CIP Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-0-7083-2330-4
e-ISBN 978-0-7083-2331-1
The right of the Contributors to be identified separately as authors of this work has
been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 79 of the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
Printed in Great Britain by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham, Wiltshire00 PrelimsScandinavian_15_12_10:Template 15/12/2010 15:10 Page v
Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Notes on Contributors ix
Introduction: Contemporary Scandinavian Crime Fiction
Paula Arvas and Andrew Nestingen 1
Part I: Revisions of the Socially Critical Genre Tradition
1 Dirty Harry in the Swedish Welfare State
Michael Tapper 21
2 The Well-Adjusted Cops of the New Millennium: Neo-Romantic
Tendencies in the Swedish Police Procedural
Kerstin Bergman 34
3 Meaningless Icelanders: Icelandic Crime Fiction and Nationality
Katrín Jakobsdóttir 46
4 Digging into the Secrets of the Past: Rewriting History in the Modern
Scandinavian Police Procedural
Karsten Wind Meyhoff 62
Part II: Questions of Place
5 The Place of Pessimism in Henning Mankell’s Kurt Wallander Series
Shane McCorristine 77
6 Gender and Geography in Contemporary Scandinavian Television
Crime Fiction
Karen Klitgaard Povlsen 89
7 Straight Queers: Anne Holt’s Transnational Lesbian Detective Fiction
Ellen Rees 100
8 Next to the Final Frontier: Russians in Contemporary Finnish and
Scandinavian Crime Fiction
Paula Arvas 11500 PrelimsScandinavian_15_12_10:Template 15/12/2010 15:10 Page vi
Contents
Part III: Politics of Representation
9 Swedish Queens of Crime: the Art of Self-Promotion and the Notion
of Feminine Agency – Liza Marklund and Camilla Läckberg
Sara Kärrholm 131
10 High Crime in Contemporary Scandinavian Literature – the Case
of Peter Høeg’s Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow
Magnus Persson 148
11 Håkan Nesser and the Third Way: of Loneliness, Alibis and
Collateral Guilt
Sylvia Söderlind 159
12 Unnecessary Officers: Realism, Melodrama and Scandinavian
Crime Fiction in Transition
Andrew Nestingen 171
Index 185
vi00 PrelimsScandinavian_15_12_10:Template 15/12/2010 15:10 Page vii
Acknowledgements
This book is the result of a conversation between the editors that began in the
Helsinki-establishment Corona in summer 2002, but really dates to a friendship
that began in 1996 in the department of Finnish language and literature at the
University of Helsinki. Since then scholarly research on Scandinavian crime fiction
has flourished. Major studies on crime fiction have been published by Daniel
Brodén, Jost Hindermann, Sara Kärrholm, Karsten Wind Meyhoff, Magnus
Persson, Voitto Ruohonen and Lars Wendelius, among others. This book has offered
us the opportunity to engage these scholars’ and others’ work, to work with some
of them and to discover contributors to the field whose work we did not know.
We are deeply thankful to the contributors to this volume for this opportunity
and for their work in producing this volume. The contributors were unfailingly
patient with our requests for revisions and cuts, making the work of preparing
the volume stimulating and enjoyable. Their work is this book’s contribution to the
conversation about Scandinavian crime fiction.
A number of other scholars and institutions played critical roles in bringing
this book about, whom we also wish to thank. Peter Kirkegaard, Nils Nordberg
and Johan Wopenka shared their thoughts and research with us as we prepared
the volume, for which we wish to say a hearty thanks. We also wish to thank
Professor Gunhild Agger of Aalborg University and her Crime fiction and crime
journalism-research group. Professor Agger and her colleagues provided a warm
and hospitable environment in Klimt to present and discuss some of the work in
this volume, for which we are deeply thankful. We also wish to thank Professor
Claire Gorrara of Cardiff University, who is series editor of European Crime
Fictions. Professor Gorrara supported this book’s inclusion in the series and was
happy to share with us thoughtful advice about this manuscript, for which we
are grateful. Special thanks go as well to the institutions that helped make the
book possible. The bulk of the editorial work took place at the University of
Helsinki, where research fellowships in the collegium for advanced studies and
the department of Finnish literature made it possible for us to work together
intensively on editing the manuscript. The book would not have been possible
without the collaboration made possible by this research time. Special thanks to the
director of the collegium during 2008 and 2009, Professor Juha Sihvola, and also00 PrelimsScandinavian_15_12_10:Template 15/12/2010 15:10 Page viii
Acknowledgements
to collegium research assistant Jenni T. Laitinen, who provided expert help. The
University of Washington’s department of Scandinavian studies also provided
valuable research support. Preparation of the manuscript for publication depended
upon the extraordinary assistance of Maren Anderson, for which we say a whole -
hearted thanks. Many thanks as well to Professor Terje Leiren, for backing the
project with research support along the way. Many unnamed others contributed
through criticism, conversation and discussion, for which we are grateful.
The book is dedicated to Andrew Nestingen’s parents, for their support and
encouragement over many years. It is also dedicated to Paula Arvas’s husband
Juha for his love and support, and to their baby daughter Selma.
viii00 PrelimsScandinavian_15_12_10:Template 15/12/2010 15:10 Page ix
Notes on Contributors
Paula Arvas received her Ph.D. from the Department of Finnish language and
literature at the University of Helsinki in 2009, where she has lectured about
Finnish crime fiction, Scandinavian crime fiction and popular fiction. She is the
author of Rauta ja Ristilukki. Vilho Helasen salapoliisiromaanit [Iron and the
CrossSpider: Vilho Helasen’s Detective Fiction](Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society:
2009). Her topics of research interest include the history of Finnish crime fiction,
modern Finnish thrillers, Scandinavian crime fiction, the effects of war in crime
fiction and feminist crime fiction.
Kerstin Bergman Ph.D. is Senior Research Fellow in comparative literature at the
Centre for Languages and Literature, Lund University, Sweden. Currently she is
working on a project about the function of science in contemporary crime fiction,
financed for four years by the Swedish Research Council. She is the author of En
möjlig värld [A Conceivable World](Hedemora: Gidlund, 2002), as well as numerous
articles on contemporary literature and crime fiction, and its relation to film, science,
memory and the senses.
Katrín Jakobsdóttir finished her MA thesis, ‘Social structures in Icelandic crime
literature’ at the University of Iceland in 2004. She has taught at the University of
Iceland and the University of Reykjavík, and has published articles on Icelandic
crime fiction and Icelandic children’s literature in literary magazines. Jakobsdóttir
was elected to the Parliament of Iceland in the spring of 2007, and now serves as
Member of Parliament.
Sara Kärrholm’s most recent book is Konsten att lägga pussel. Deckaren och
besvärjandet av ondskan i folkhemmet [The Art of Doing a Puzzle: The Detective
Novel and the Conjuring of Evil in the Swedish Welfare State](Stehag: Brutus
Östlings Bokförlag Symposion, 2005). Kärrholm earned her Ph.D. in Comparative
Literature at the University of Lund, Sweden. She is currently engaged in designing
a new research project about Scandinavian crime fiction.
Shane McCorristine is IRCHSS Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Mobility Fellow
at NUI Maynooth and Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge,00 PrelimsScandinavian_15_12_10:Template 15/12/2010 15:10 Page x
Notes on Contributors
2010–13. His most recent book is Spectres of the Self: Thinking about Ghosts and
Ghost-seeing in England, c.1750–1920 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2010). His current research interests include the history of science, children’s
literature and the history of Arctic exploration.
Karsten Wind Meyhoff is a doctoral candidate in arts and cultural studies at the
University of Copenhagen, Denmark, wh