Nordic Noir and Arctic Peripherality in Northern Europe

Abstract

During the past decade, series from both within and beyond the Nordic region have embraced the Arctic region as a novel way to tell crime stories, pointing directly to the development of the spatio-generic reference to Arctic Noir. We read such new creative and financial set-ups as a transformation of widespread stylistics of Nordic Noir and as a powerful way to negotiate the geopolitics of a region that has received much attention of late. Firstly, we analyse to first Faeroese full-scale series Trom (2022) with attention towards the isles’ maritime subarctic climate and focus on (post)colonial debates about the Danish Realm. Secondly, we read the Finnish series Arctic Circle (2018-) as an establishment of an ‘Arctic space’ rather than a specific ‘Arctic place,’ including a pertinent debate about Russia and the long shared border with Finland, a situation narratively used as ‘the wild east.’ Thirdly, we analyse the Norwegian series Outlier (2020) as a creative attempt to not only establish an authentic image of the Arctic/Säpmi territories, but also indicative of recent interests in establishing local media industries in the Arctic area. Altogether, the chapter shows a powerful interest in pushing Nordic Noir to the far northern boundaries of the Nordic region.