Metaphysics and religion in Scandinavian crime fiction

Description

Since the turn of the millennium, religion and metaphysics have become part of the Scandinavian crime novel. This may be due to a general revolt against the strictly rational and verifiable.

Subject

In the novel ‘Fallen Angels’ from 1989, the Norwegian writer Gunnar Staalesen’s protagonist Varg Veum is a trained social worker-cum-private detective who becomes involved in a case where members of a punk band from his youth are assassinated one by one.

One night long ago something happened, and in the first pages of the novel the only surviving member of the punk band, Varg Veum, asks himself if he believes in Jesus.

According to Kim Toft Hansen, an assistant professor at the Department of Culture and Global Studies at Aalborg University, this question is a turning point in the novel. He has recently published a book based on his PhD thesis.