The rise of Nordic noir fiction is undeniable; more and more people are hooked on watching shows in the genre of Nordic noir, which is also known as Scandinavian crime fiction. Great writers from the Scandinavian countries of Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Iceland find readers from the United States and the United Kingdom have become a major market and audience for their works. The rise of Nordic noir fiction is inevitable since many Scandinavian works have been purposely translated into a language that is understood by the majority of the population of the world.
What is Nordic noir and what makes it different from all the other works of crime fiction? Nordic noir is devoid of metaphors; it is austere, straight to the point, grim and morbid, and gruesome in the most literal sense. It deviates from the mainstream idea of having to present danger in a more tolerable manner. Instead, it gives chills right to the bone, from the moment that the reader has just made himself comfortable in his chair. What could be more sinister when the setting is in a place full of snow, with just trees and only a few houses visible in the middle of a chilly winter? Nordic noir has become an addiction and obsession with people because the stories come from real literature.
What makes Nordic noir different and what gives it an edge over the other types of fiction is that the reader or viewer's appetite for grieving, torture, killings, and death is immediately satisfied by the kind of plot this fiction gives to its audience. The nature of the detective or the protagonist of the story is also one of the key factors which makes Nordic noir a hit; not only does the protagonist solve and find the links to the mystery, he is a mystery himself. Thus, making the protagonist a mystery in his own distinct way quenches the reader or viewer's thirst for analysis. Nordic noir is so plain and simple and at the same time very morose and bleak. This is an odd combination but makes Nordic noir fiction unique.
Nordic noir fiction can be broken down to three key elements and these are language, heroes, and setting. In fact, one of the best examples of the success of Nordic noir is Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series. The protagonist is a mystery herself, the language is so simple and devoid of unnecessary metaphors, the heroes are very precise, and the setting is very realistic. Scandinavian crime fiction presents a realistic situation in society and shows a mode of appropriate action regarding the socially critical situation in the simplest way possible.
Just imagine a region of Scandinavia; chilly, silent, sinister, dark, and a small population. With the criminal just walking in the woods, the investigatory procedure of the protagonist who is expert in catching killers and finding the missing links to the mystery could not just get any better.
