Nordic Noir challenging ‘the language of advantage’: Setting, light and language as production values in Danish television series

Abstract

Abstract In this article, the authors argue that the relative success in Great Britain of Danish television drama series marks an interesting shift in both the British and Danish context. In Denmark, it marks a shift in television’s drama production in which the exoticism of the Danish settings, landscapes, light, climate, language and everyday life become promotional tools when marketing the productions internationally, hence internationalizing Danish television drama production from within. In Great Britain, the success of the Danish series has paved the way for an unprecedented increase in subtitled foreign television drama, which arguably represents a cultural mark-up in the minds of British audiences and critics alike, hence internationalizing British television from without. Consequently, the Danish series’ success in Great Britain and beyond also tentatively challenges long-held ‘truths’ about media globalization and the perceived dominance of anglophone audio-visual industries and content.