Men Who Hate Women and Women Who Kick Their Asses: Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy in Feminist Perspective

13. Lisbeth Salander and Her Swedish Crime Fiction "Sisters": Stieg Larsson's Hero in a Genre Context

135 13 Lisbeth Salander and Her Swedish Crime Fiction “Sisters” Stieg Larsson’s Hero in a Genre Context Kerstin Bergman I t is often claimed that the main reason for the worldwide success of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy is the character Lisbeth Salander. In English-speaking markets, Salander is the primary focus on book covers and film posters; in contrast, only one of the Swedish titles focuses on Salander, and in the marketing of Larsson ’s books in Sweden, the women and men protagonists are equally prominent. It was only when Salander left Sweden that she began to be perceived as a truly unique hero. The Millennium trilogy is a work of crime fiction, where Larsson has mixed together many different crime fiction genres (cf. Agger 2009; Lundin 2007, 20; Rothstrand 2010, 58–84; Thomassen 2009). Salander’s primary fictional forerunners are found among the women action heroes of popular culture (cf. the tradition outlined by Schubart 2007), as well as the men heroes of the hard-boiled and thriller crime fiction subgenres, something often neglected in the discussion of her as “one of a kind.” While there is no one exactly like Salander among the heroes of Swedish crime fiction, she still has many Swedish “sisters” who, like her, have a feminist outlook, challenge gender stereotypes, and defend themselves through physical action. In this essay, I place Salander in the crime genre, and in particular in the context of contemporary Swedish crime fiction. I then show that while she is a fascinating and compelling hero, she is perhaps not all that unique. 136 Men Who Hate Women and Women Who Kick Their Asses In 1995, Kathleen Gregory Klein noted that feminism had begun to influence crime fiction (230–42), which had previously been a genre dominated by men. The impact of feminism on crime fiction has been particularly strong in Sweden. Since the 1990s, many successful Swedish crime writers have included feminist elements in their fiction, criticizing gender stereotypes and presenting strong women characters. During the last few decades, gender has been one of the most hotly debated issues throughout Scandinavian popular culture (Nestingen 2008, 9; Klintgaard Povlsen and Waade 2009, 66– 68). That Larsson gives Salander and his novels a feminist outlook is thus hardly surprising. In the Millennium trilogy, Salander displays a high degree of social consciousness, taking a particularly strong stance against the discrimination and violation of women. She judges people depending on how they treat others, and she is particularly intent on punishing those who mistreat women. And, even though she rarely speaks out for women as a collective, Salander’s attitude and actions can often be described as feminist. Sweden is habitually referred to as a country where equality between women and men has come quite a long way. In reality, though, most parts of Swedish society are still far from gender equal. The degree to which women detectives can be considered feminist also varies greatly within Swedish crime fiction. Many authors, including Mari Jungstedt and Camilla Läckberg, could be criticized for accommodating traditional female stereotypes (cf. Bergman 2009 and 2011), while others, such as Liza Marklund and Åsa Nilsonne, could be described as “feminist lite” (cf. Kärrholm 2009 and 2011). Clearly Salander has much in common with Marklund’s fictional crime journalist Annika Bengtzon, who often aims to bring justice to abused women, as well as with psychologist Siri Bergman in the novels by sister duo Camilla Grebe and Åsa Träff.The key theme of Grebe and Träff ’s Bittrare än döden (2010; More bitter than death) is the destructive power of love, seen from a feminist perspective where men’s violence against women is at the center of the discussion. Salander is shaped by her traumatic past, and throughout the trilogy she is repeatedly abused by both individuals and institutions. Gill Plain (2001, 214) notes that excessive violence against the detective is a common way to destabilize and undermine his or her agency, Lisbeth Salander and Her Swedish Crime Fiction “Sisters” 137 especially when it comes to lesbian detectives. The violation of the investigator contributes to the suspense and creates an element of uncertainty common to the crime thriller: will the protagonist really survive? In the depiction of Salander, many conventions from a variety of crime thriller subgenres are used, and it is clear that part of the abuse that Salander suffers is motivated...