Past and future wars on TV: High-end drama series and national identity

Abstract

War on film and in television series reflects a nation’s preoccupation with war and how warfare shapes conceptions of history. The war genre is inherently national, as it deals with a nation’s heroic moments and traumas. Stories about war address a nation’s collective moral values, cultural heritage and other tropes of national identity markers. This article will discuss two Norwegian war dramas made for TV, one set in the past (Kampen om tungtvannet [The Saboteurs] [2015]) and one set in a not-too-distant future (Okkupert [Occupied] [2015–20]). This article discusses how these war dramas articulate themes about history and nationality.