Geopolitics, Northern Europe, and Nordic Noir: What Television Series Tell Us about World Politics

by Robert A. Saunders

With its focus on the popular television genre of Nordic noir, this book examines subtle and explicit manifestations of geopolitics in crime series from Scandinavia and Finland, as well as the impact of such programmes on how northern Europe is viewed around the world. Drawing on a diverse set of literature, from screen studies to critical International Relations, Geopolitics, Northern Europe, and Nordic Noir addresses the fraught geopolitical content of Nordic television series, as well as how Nordic noir as a genre travels the globe. With empirical chapters focusing on the interlinked concepts of the body, the border, and the nation-state, this book interrogates the various ways in which northern European states grapple with challenges wrought by globalisation, neoliberalism, and climate change. Reflecting the current global fascination with all things Nordic, this text examines the light and dark sides of the region as seen through the television screen, demonstrating that series such as Occupied , Trapped , and The Bridge have much to teach us about world politics. This book will be of interest to those interested in geopolitics, national identity, and the politics of popular culture Scandinavian studies, media/screen studies, IR/political science, human/cultural geography, sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, and communication.

220 pages, ebook

Published December 31, 2020

About the author

Dr. Robert A. Saunders, Ph.D. (Global Affairs, Rutgers University, 2005; M.A., History, Stony Brook University; B.A., History, University of Florida), is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of History, Politics and Geography at Farmingdale State College – SUNY, where he teaches courses in comparative religions, European culture and world history. His research explores the impact of popular culture and mass media on geopolitics, nationalism, and religious identity. His geographic areas of focus include Russia, Central Asia, and Nordic Europe.

In 2016, Professor Saunders was awarded the prestigious Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities, a system-wide accolade for sustained scholarship presented by the State University of New York. He has held visiting researcher positions at the University of Leeds, Aarhus University, and Malmö University. Professor Saunders is a member of the editorial board of Academic Quarter/Akademisk kvarter and an Affiliate Partner of the Centre for Transnational Media Research at Aarhus University. His extensive work on Kazakhstan's feud with the British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen led Harper's to label him the “world's leading Boratologist.”

Over the past decade, Professor Saunders has focused on the role of television, film, novels, comics, and other popular media in the everyday conceptualization of geopolitics, from Putin parody videos to Black Panther (2018). Beginning in 2015, he began a wide-ranging exploration of Nordic noir television series and their impact on geographical imagination and geopolitical cultures across and beyond northern Europe. His current research agenda explores the Anthropo(s)cene, or how climate change, mass extinction, and other unpredictable outcomes of humans' terraforming of the planet are represented in dystopian films, cli-fi novels, and other forms of cultural production.