ABSTRACT

Nordic Noir TV crime drama foregrounds its Scandinavian identity, its particular noir-like mode of audiovisual expression, its complex long-form narrative, and its in-depth character studies. Though its national markers are an intrinsic part of its identity, it offers a branding template that has the capacity for cultural and geographical makeover on a global scale. Despite the commercial nature of both film and television production, the attendant prejudices that haunt the remake in cinema do not extend to its televisual counterpart. As with film noir, a term posthumously applied to a body of work that emerged during the golden age of the Hollywood studio system in the 1940s, contemporary Scandinavian TV crime dramas have garnered their Nordic Noir classification post-production. For many, the pleasure of viewing Nordic Noir narratives lies in the experience of immersion into another national space, both culturally and geographically, subtitles providing the only mediating signifier.