New book on rape in crime stories

Press release -

New book on rape in crime stories

Stieg Larsson’s novel character Lisbeth Salander stands out from the ordinary. Rapes play an important role in what formed her person and her actions, how she personally and how other women who are the victims of rape become a driving force for the development of Lisbeth Salander’s mental and physical strength.

A new book is being released in November. Essays by literature, film, and language researchers from Sweden, the UK, Canada, and the US have been gathered under the title Rape in Stieg Larsson's 'Millennium' Trilogy and Beyond: Contemporary Scandinavian and Anglophone Crime Fiction. The texts in the book discuss and theorize about depictions of rapes in contemporary Scandinavian and English-language crime literature.

Two of the three editors, and authors of several texts in the book, are Berit Åström and Katarina Gregersdotter, both language and literature researchers at Umeå University in Sweden. The third editor, Tanya Horeck, is a film scholar working in Cambridge at Anglia Ruskin University.

“We started thinking about rapes in crime novels and what they do to us as readers. Why did the author include rapes in the story? What function do they fulfill? What does it tell us about the rapists and the victims?” says Berit Åström.

“I believe our book will reach a broader audience than merely researchers, simply because so many people read crime fiction and have opinions about it. They’re familiar with the stereotypes of the genre,” maintains Katarina Gregersdotter.

Contact:
Berit Åström, <http://www.umu.se/sok/personalkatalog/visa-person?uid=betasm88>
Katarina Gregersdotter: <http://www.umu.se/sok/personalkatalog/visa-person?uid=kaagrr96>

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Umeå University

Umeå University is one of Sweden's largest universities with over 37,000 students and 4,300 employees. The university is home to a wide range of education programmes and world-class research in a number of fields. Umeå University was also where the gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 was discovered – a revolution in gene-technology that was awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Founded in 1965, Umeå University is characterised by tradition and stability as well as innovation and change. Education and research on a high international level contributes to new knowledge of global importance, inspired, among other things, by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The university houses creative and innovative people that take on societal challenges. Through long-term collaboration with organisations, trade and industry, and other universities, Umeå University continues to develop northern Sweden as a knowledge region.

The international atmosphere at the university and its unified campus encourages academic meetings, an exchange of ideas and interdisciplinary co-operation. The cohesive environment enables a strong sense of community and a dynamic and open culture in which students and staff rejoice in the success of others.

Campus Umeå and Umeå Arts Campus are only a stone's throw away from Umeå town centre and are situated next to one of Sweden's largest and most well-renowned university hospitals. The university also has campuses in the neighbouring towns Skellefteå and Örnsköldsvik.

At Umeå University, you will also find the highly-ranked Umeå Institute of Design, the environmentally certified Umeå School of Business, Economics and Statistics and the only architectural school with an artistic orientation – Umeå School of Architecture. The university also hosts a contemporary art museum Bildmuseet and Umeå's science centre – Curiosum. Umeå University is one of Sweden's five national sports universities and hosts an internationally recognised Arctic Research Centre.

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