ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how narratives can refigure places, and thus function as driving forces contributing to the creation of economic value stimulated by Millennium through generating a narrative capital. The Millennium case illustrates how popular culture narratives generate considerable values and how these stories are being developed, re-contextualized, and reconfigured in a complex web of interactions on several levels. Regional and national tourist promoters have used Millennium in their marketing campaigns. Travel agencies, tour and sightseeing operators have offered Millennium-themed tours and cooperate with the city museum for the Millennium walking tours. One strong contributing reason behind the Millennium series' success, at least domestically, is that the configuration of narratives and characters are poignantly influenced by previous narratives in Swedish literature. The Millennium series is full of political and social perspectives, that are closely associated with Swedish contemporary history, and the books are littered with parallels to real events and people.
