[ecrea] CFP: The Scandinavian Invasion: Perspectives on the Nordic Noir Phenomenon

The Scandinavian Invasion: Perspectives on the Nordic Noir Phenomenon

Edited by William Proctor



The crime genre has a long-established history in the Scandinavian 
countries: from the ten-part series of novels by Sjöwall and Wahlöö 
featuring Inspector Martin Beck to Henning Mankell’s critique of Swedish 
society through the lens of the Kurt Wallander novels. Since the 
publication of Stieg Larsson’s The Millennium Trilogy in 2005 featuring 
anti-heroine, Lisbeth Salander, we have seen the birth of a global 
phenomenon that has spread across multiple media windows including 
literature, film and, most notably perhaps, television. Authors such as 
Jo Nesbo (The Snowman), Lars Kepler (The Hypnotist), Lotte and Søren 
Hammer (The Hanging) and more besides, regularly feature in book store 
charts and on internet shopping sites.  In the UK, BBC Four continue to 
champion the genre by airing The Killing, Borgen, and more recently, The 
Bridge alongside other series, such as Mammon and Arne Dahl. How can we 
begin to account for the popularity of the so-called Nordic Noir genre 
in the UK and beyond? How has this impacted other texts outside of the 
Scandinavian Peninsula? What can audiences and fan cultures teach us 
about this phenomenon? More simply, why Nordic Noir and why now?

The term itself, Nordic Noir, has also grown beyond its initial ambit to 
encompass multiple genres rather than restricted to crime or the police 
procedural. Arrow Films releases Scandinavian drama on the Nordic Noir 
label which includes crime, but also, other genres, such as history 
(Anno 1790), for instance. In this way, the genre has expanded in 
significant ways as a ‘cultural category’ that is discursively 
constructed rather than confined to a limited and finite designation. 
Following Jason Mittell, the Nordic Noir genre ‘operates in an ongoing 
historical process of category formation genres are constantly in flux, 
and thus their analyses must be historically situated’ (2004: xiv).

This collection aims to offer a varied range of perspectives on the 
Nordic Noir phenomenon and invites scholars to submit abstracts of 300 – 
500 words. I am particularly interested in audiences and fan cultures, 
but other avenues of exploration may include (but not limited to):





·         Genre analysis.

·         History

·         Society and Culture.

·         Literature, Cinema, Television.

·         Non-Crime texts (such as Akta Manniskor or Anno 1790 and so 
forth).

·         Reception and Audiences.

·         Gender.

·         Sexuality.

·         Representation.

·         Influence and impact in other cultures.

·         The new wave of literature.

·         Industry.

·         Branding.



All proposals will be considered within the remit of Nordic Noir and its 
impact. Deadlines for abstracts: October 1st 2014. This will form part 
of the proposal to Edinburgh University Press who have expressed an 
interest in the project.

Abstracts to be forwarded to: (billyproctor /at/ hotmail.co.uk). Please send 
any queries, ideas etc to the same.


William Proctor,

Centre for Research in Media and Cultural Studies,

University of Sunderland



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