Reflections on Swedish Society in Beck Television Detective Series in the Early 2000S
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Reflections on Swedish Society in Beck Television Detective Series in the Early 2000s Janne Osmo Henrik Leivo University of Helsinki Faculty of Social Sciences Media and Global Communication Master’s Thesis September 2016 Tiedekunta/ Osasto – Fakultet/Sektion – Faculty Laitos – Institution – Department Faculty of Social Sciences Department of Social Research Tekijä – Författare – Author Janne Osmo Henrik Leivo Työn nimi – Arbetets titel – Title Reflections on Swedish Society in Beck Television Detective Series in the Early 2000s Oppiaine – Läroämne – Subject Media and Global Communication Työn laji – Arbetets art – Level Aika – Datum – Month and year Sivumäärä – Sidoantal – Number of pages Master’s Thesis September 2016 92 Tiivistelmä – Referat – Abstract Swedish detective stories, despite their international success, have been a marginal area of research. The search words “Nordic noir” give thousands of results indicating the huge international success of Nordic crime fiction. This study examines the reasons for this phenomenon by studying Swedish society from the viewpoint of a particular television show. The aim is to increase the understanding of how crime fiction can be used to take a stance on social issues. This study analyses four Martin Beck television episodes produced between the years 2001 and 2002. These television episodes are based on the ten novels Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö wrote between the years 1965 and 1975. The method used for this study is a thematic analysis, meaning searching for certain themes and similarities within the chosen episodes. One of the aims is to search for social themes that were current in Sweden in the early 2000s. The central research question is: What kind of representations of crime and social tensions in the Swedish society and welfare state does the television series Beck offer? The results of this study suggest that the Beck television episodes are a continuation of the phenomenon Sjöwall and Wahlöö introduced in the 1960s. Hovewer, the crimes are updated to correspond the 2000s though many of the themes are still timeless. Also, the characters appearing in the series, such as Martin Beck and Gunvald Larsson provide an interesting perspective to reflect on social inequalities. This study offers a perspective on how the Swedish welfare state appeared in the early 2000s. Avainsanat – Nyckelord – Keywords Sweden, 2000s, Beck, cultural studies, welfare state, crime fiction, television series b Tiedekunta/Osasto – Fakultet/Sektion – Faculty Laitos – Institution – Department Valtiotieteellinen tiedekunta Sosiaalitieteiden laitos Tekijä – Författare – Author Janne Osmo Henrik Leivo Työn nimi – Arbetets titel – Title Reflections on Swedish Society in Beck Television Detective Series in the Early 2000s Oppiaine – Läroämne – Subject Viestintä / Media and Global Communication Työn laji – Arbetets art – Level Aika – Datum – Month and year Sivumäärä – Sidoantal – Number of pages Pro Gradu Syyskuu 2016 92 Tiivistelmä – Referat – Abstract Ruotsalaisia rikosdraamoja televisioissa on tutkittu melko vähän. Hakusanoilla ”Nordic noir” löytyy tänään tuhansia tuloksia joka kertoo miten menestyvä Pohjoismainen rikosdraama on ollut ja on edelleen. Tämä tutkimus selvittää tämän ilmiön taustoja tutkimalla ruotsalaista yhteiskuntaa yhden televisiosarjan avulla. Tavoitteena on lisätä ymmärrystä miten rikosdraamalla voidaan ottaa kantaa yhteiskunnallisiin aiheisiin. Tämä tutkimus analysoi neljää Martin Beck -televisioelokuvaa jotka ovat tehty vuosien 2001 ja 2002 välillä. Nämä televisioelokuvat perustuvat kirjailijapariskunta Per Sjöwallin ja Maj Wahlöön vuosina 1965–1975 julkaistuun kymmenen kirjan sarjaan. Metodina käytetään teema-analyysia joka tarkoittaa tiettyjen yhtäläisyyksien etsimistä tarkastetuista televisioelokuvista. Yhtenä tavoitteena on etsiä ajankohtaisia yhteiskunnallisia teemoja, jotka olivat Ruotsissa näkyvillä 2000-luvun alussa ja ymmärtää miten aiheita kriittisesti käsitellään jaksoissa. Keskeinen tutkimuskysymys on: Miten hyvinvointiyhteiskunnan rikokset ja sosiaaliset jännitteet tulevat esiin Beck-sarjassa uuden vuosituhannen vaihteessa? Tutkimuksen tulokset kertovat, että Beck-televisioelokuvat ovat jatkumoa Sjöwallin ja Wahlöön aikaansaamalle ilmiölle 1960- luvulla. Rikokset vastaavat kuitenkin enemmän 2000-lukua monessa teemassa, mutta esiin tulee myös mielenkohtaisia teemoja jotka ovat omalla tavallaan ajattomia. Myös sarjassa esiintyvät henkilöhahmot, kuten Martin Beck ja Gunvald Larsson tarjoavat mielenkiintoisen näkökulman yhteiskunnallisten epäarvoisuuksien pohtimiseen. Tämä tutkimus tarjoaa näkökulman siihen miltä ruotsalainen hyvinvointiyhteiskunta näytti ja vaikutti 2000-luvun alussa. Avainsanat – Nyckelord – Keywords Ruotsi, 2000-luku, Beck, kulttuurintutkimus, hyvinvointivaltio, rikosdraama, televisiosarjat c CONTENTS 1. Introduction......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 The Research Aim and the Structure of the Thesis ................................................. 2 2. Crime fiction: Theory and Background .............................................................................. 4 2.1 The Social Significance of Television..................................................................... 4 2.2 Defining Police Drama in Television: Between Fiction and Art ............................ 7 2.3 Crime Fiction: Origins and Later Developments .................................................... 9 2.4 Swedish Crime Fiction .......................................................................................... 15 2.4.1 Previously on Swedish Crime Fiction......................................................... 15 2.4.2 Swedish Crime Authors: Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö .............................. 16 2.5 Swedish Society, Theory and Crime Fiction......................................................... 19 3. Methodology..................................................................................................................... 25 3.1 Research Design .................................................................................................... 27 3.1.1 Data Collection and Data Specifics............................................................. 28 3.1.2 Critical Reception of Beck .......................................................................... 36 3.2 Data Analysis Methods.......................................................................................... 39 3.2.1 Sampling Scheme ........................................................................................ 40 3.2.2 Validity and Ethics ...................................................................................... 41 4. Analysis: Representations of Social Commentary in the Second Season of Beck ........... 43 4.1 Representations of Social Commentary in the Characters .................................... 43 4.1.1 Martin Beck – The Discreet Detective ........................................................ 44 4.1.2 Gunvald Larsson – The Contradictory “Super-Cop” .................................. 46 4.1.3 Valdemar – The Ambiguous Neighbour of Beck........................................ 49 4.1.4 Other Characters.......................................................................................... 52 d 4.2 Representations of the Welfare State .................................................................... 56 4.2.1 Ordinariness................................................................................................. 60 4.2.2 Family Structure .......................................................................................... 61 4.3 Gender Equality..................................................................................................... 63 4.4 Social Alienation ................................................................................................... 66 4.5 Immigration and Foreigners .................................................................................. 68 4.6 Compassionate Violence ....................................................................................... 76 4.6.1 Individual Compassion................................................................................ 78 5. Conclusion: Beck in the Early Twenty-First Century....................................................... 82 5.1 Relevance, Challenges and Suggestions for Further Research ............................. 82 Filmography ......................................................................................................................... 85 Bibliography ......................................................................................................................... 87 e 1. Introduction The lost welfare state and the longing for a golden age have become keywords in studies of Swedish crime fiction in literature, film and television. With Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö as groundbreakers, Swedish crime fiction has grown into a success story both as entertainment and as productions with political-ideological implications. However, Swedish crime fiction is not an isolated phenomenon, not even the critique against the modern social liberal welfare state. The crime fiction genre in literature, film and television is a global, mass cultural and global phenomenon. In addition, wide distribution channels and huge editions resonate crime fiction into a broad stratum of society, and in the early 2000s crime fiction represented globally one-third of all published