Crime and Fantasy in Scandinavia: Fiction, Film, and Social Change - Softcover

Nestingen, Andrew

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0295988045 ISBN 13: 9780295988047

Publisher: University of Washington Press, 2008

Synopsis

Scandinavian popular novels and films have flourished in the last thirty years. In Crime and Fantasy in Scandinavia, Andrew Nestingen argues that the growth and visibility of popular culture have been at the heart of the development of heterogeneous “publics” in Scandinavia, in opposition to the homogenizing influence of the post-World War II welfare state. Novels and films have mobilized readers and viewers, serving as a preeminent site for debates over individualism, collectivity, national homogeneity, gender, and transnational relations.

Crime and Fantasy in Scandinavia provides insight into the changing nature of civil society in Scandinavia through the lens of popular culture. Nestingen develops his argument through the examination of genres where the central theme is individual transgression of societal norms: crime films and novels, melodramas, and fantasy fiction. Among the internationally known writers and filmmakers discussed are Henning Mankell, Aki Kaurismäki, Lukas Moodysson, and Lars von Trier.

About this title

Book Description:

Popular culture is at the heart of change in Scandinavia.

From the Publisher:

"A fascinating analysis of the significance of crime fiction for our understanding of Scandinavia's transformations in an era of globalizing tendencies." - Mette Hjort, author of Small Nation, Global Cinema: The New Danish Cinema

"This is an important work that urges Scandinavianists to rethink received notions about the welfare state and its legacy as well as the changing status of cultural productions." - Ellen Rees, University of Oregon

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Washington Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0295988045
• ISBN 13: 9780295988047
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336