Noir in the North: Genre, Politics and Place

Author:   Dr Stacy Gillis (Newcastle University, UK) ,  Dr Gunnthorunn Gudmundsdottir (University of Iceland, Iceland)
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
ISBN:  

9781501369285


Pages:   278
Publication Date:   21 April 2022
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
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Noir in the North: Genre, Politics and Place


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Overview

What is often termed ‘Nordic Noir’ has dominated detective fiction, film and television internationally for over two decades. But what are the parameters of this genre, both historically and geographically? What is noirish and what is northern about Nordic noir? The foreword and coda in this volume, by two internationally-bestselling writers of crime fiction in the north, Yrsa Sigurðardóttir and Gunnar Staalesen, speak to the social contract undertaken by writers of noir, while the interview with the renowned crime writer Val McDermid adds nuance to our understanding of what it is to write noir in the North. Divided into four sections – Gender and Sexuality, Space and Place, Politics and Crime, and Genre and Genealogy – Noir in the North challenges the traditional critical histories of noir by investigating how it functions transnationally beyond the geographical borders of Scandinavia. The essays in this book deepen our critical understanding of noir more generally by demonstrating, for example, Nordic noir’s connection to fin-de-siècle literatures and to mid-century interior design, and by investigating the function of the state in crime fiction.

Full Product Details

Author:   Dr Stacy Gillis (Newcastle University, UK) ,  Dr Gunnthorunn Gudmundsdottir (University of Iceland, Iceland)
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Imprint:   Bloomsbury Academic USA
ISBN:  

9781501369285


ISBN 10:   1501369288
Pages:   278
Publication Date:   21 April 2022
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

List of Figures Notes on Contributors Foreword Yrsa Sigurðardóttir (Author, Iceland) Acknowledgements 1. Introduction: Noir in the North Gunnthorunn Guðmundsdóttir (University of Iceland, Iceland) and Gerardine Meaney (University College Dublin, Ireland) PART I GENDER AND TRANSNATIONAL DIMENSIONS 2. The Woman Between: A Social Network Analysis of The Fall and The Bridge Gerardine Meany (University College Dublin, Ireland), Derek Greene (University College Dublin, Ireland), Karen Wade (University College Dublin, Ireland), Maria Mulvany (University College Dublin, Ireland) 3. Adapting Nordic Noir: From Forbrydelsen to The Killing Delphine Letort (Le Mans University, France) 4. Lilyhammer's 'Land of Second Chances': Masculinity, Violence and Corruption Catherine Ross Nickerson (Emory University, USA) PART II SPACE AND PLACE 5. Views from The Bridge: Panoramas, Streetscapes and the Optics of Noir Graeme Gilloch (Lancaster University, UK) 6. Complex Nostalgias: North, Pastness and Community Survival in Arnaldur Indriðason’s Strange Shores and Ann Cleeves' Blue Lightning Daisy Neijmann (University of Iceland, Iceland) 7. Nordic Noir and the 'Postcolonial' North: The Legacies of Danish Colonialism in the Nordic Region Christinna Hazzard (Liverpool John Moores University, UK) PART III POLITICS AND MORALITY 8. Crime’s Cartography: Using Sjöwall and Wahlöö’s Story of a Crime to Map Sweden’s Coordinates within Global Neoliberalism’s Uneven Spread Patrick Kent Russell (University of Connecticut, USA) 9. Kid Stuff: Nordic Noir, Politics, and Quality Andrew Nestingen (University of Washington, USA) 10. Dark Nights and Moral Diversity: Re-thinking Morality in Nordic Noir Mary Evans (London School of Economics, University of London, UK) PART IV GENEALOGY AND GENRE 11. What's in a Name: The Thorny Thread of Nordic Noir Björn Nordfjörd (St. Olaf College, USA) 12. Bleakness and Tenacity: Nordic Noir and Fin-de-siècle French Decadent Literature Christopher James (Bridgewater College, USA) 13. Dragon Tattoos, Crime, and the City: The Contemporary Epic Giti Chandra (University of Iceland, Iceland) 14. The New Swedish Police Thriller of the 2010s Kerstin Bergman (Lund University, Sweden) 15. 'Safe Little Norway': Norwegian Noir and the Roots of Subversive Sociopolitical Commentary Nina Muždeka (University of Novi Sad, Serbia) 16. Val McDermid on Noir in the North Interview by Lorna Hill (University of Stirling, UK) Coda Gunnar Staalesen Index

Reviews

Blood on snow - it's not all you need (or want) to know about Nordic noir and its almost magical appeal around the world. An elegant, intelligent, and comprehensive guide to the connections between the bewitching stylistic effects in fiction and media and the realities of (and behind) Scandinavian social democracy, this collection will intensify the pleasure of fans and enlighten readers everywhere about what serious cultural work popular fiction can accomplish. * Bruce Robbins, Old Dominion Foundation Professor in the Humanities, Columbia University, USA * Eschewing the more commonly used Nordic Noir, this fabulous collection stakes out more ambitious and far-reaching critical territory, simultaneously conjoining and undoing its central terms - Noir and North. The usual suspect are here - Sjoewall and Wahloeoe, The Bridge, The Killing, Larsson, Nesbo - but so too are more unexpected figures: The Fall, Lillyhammer, Ann Cleaves, French decadence, Val McDermid. Along the way, the complacent assumptions of genre and region are jettisoned and thrillingly replaced by a mystery that refuses to be easily solved: what if Nordic Noir is neither exclusively Nordic nor easily characterised as noir? * Andrew Pepper, Senior Lecturer in English, Queen's University Belfast, UK * For those of us teaching and researching in the area, Noir in the North is a timely and stimulating study that makes a significant contribution to a dynamic area within crime fiction studies. At its heart is a crucial debate - across critical and creative fields - about the relationship between a transnational approach and the highly localised settings, cultures and languages from which this work emerges. It is also a study that takes its coordinates seriously, interrogating both the concept of 'north' (as shifting geographical territory and imagined space) and the tricky, seductive parameters of 'noir' in its literary, cinematic and televised forms. As well as addressing more familiar narratives around the political origins and commitments of Scandinavian crime fiction, these are essays that lead in new directions - towards the hidden colonial legacies of the region and the resonant 'whiteness' of the genre. * Maria Stuart, Assistant Professor, School of English, Drama and Film, University College Dublin *


Author Information

Stacy Gillis is Lecturer in Modern and Contemporary Literature at Newcastle University, UK. She is the editor of four books, including Feminism, Domesticity and Popular Culture (co-edited with Joanne Hollows, 2009). Gunnthorunn Gudmundsdottir is Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Iceland. She is the author of Representations of Forgetting in Life Writing and Fiction (2016).

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