Heterotopisk Svalbard-krim
Authors: Wærp Lisbeth Pettersen 
Published: October 2015

<p align="LEFT">How is the Arctic represented in modern crime fiction written by a female glaciologist, meterologist and polar explorer? Monica Kristensen is the author of a new, critically acclaimed, series of crime <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">novels set in Svalbard. The first four novels of the series are </span><em><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT;">Hollendergraven </span></em><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">(2007, </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT;"><em>The Dutchman's Grave</em></span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">), </span><em><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT;">Kullunge </span></em><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">(2008, </span><em><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT;">Coal Baby</span></em><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">), </span><em><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT;">Operasjon Fritham </span></em><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">(2009, </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT;"><em>Operation Fritham</em></span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">), </span><em><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT;">Den døde i Barentsburg </span></em><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">(2011, </span><em><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT;">The Dead Man in Barentsburg</span></em><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">) </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">and </span><em><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT;">Ekspedisjonen </span></em><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">(2014, </span><em><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT;">The Expedition</span></em><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">). According to the publisher, Forlaget </span>Press, the series, when completed, will consist of altogether 12 books. The originality of the series is the use of Svalbard as setting. The setting is not only spectacular, it is significant: Knowledge of nature and climate is of greatest importance to the characters, the protagonist, police officer (sysselmannsbetjent) Knut Fjeld, as well as his various antagonists. <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">Svalbard is not only a place in the Arctic, but also a group of </span><em><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT;">islands</span></em><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">. Both aspects </span>are effectively exploited in Kristensen's novels. The representation of the Arctic <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">archipelago is to a great extent based on the </span><em><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT;">differences </span></em><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">from other places, e.g. </span>mainland Norway. The arcticle argues that the arctic archipelago as represented in these novels comes close to what French philosopher Michel Foucault calls <span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT;"><em>heterotopia</em></span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">: A place that is totally different from other places, a place that represents </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT;"><em>the other, </em></span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">the </span><em><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT;">deviant, </span></em><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">and like the utopia and dystopia reflects the world of which it </span>is an extension. Heterotopia is Foucault’s neologism (1967), and unlike the utopia/dystopia, the heterotopia actually exists. Within this theoretical framework the article presents a reading of the first five novels with special emphasis on the exploitation of place.</p>