Unthinking Ethnocentrism: Ecocritical Approaches to Ethnic Diversity in Nordic Screen Media

Abstract

This article develops an ecocritical perspective on the ways Nordic film and television has addressed ethnic and racial diversity. Here, we develop the term ‘ecotone’, a concept originating in ecocritical studies that characterizes the transitional space linking separate ecological communities. Focusing on the popular noir series Bron/Broen (The Bridge) (2011–2018), Hannes Holm’s Swedish comedy En man som heter Ove (A Man Called Ove) (2015), the Norwegian teen drama Skam ('Shame') (2015-17) and Ruben Östlund’s controversial film Play (2011), we claim the ecotone, when adopted as a form of mediated intervention, allows us to interrogate the taken for granted ideological foundations of Nordic societies. This involves unpacking the representations of material culture and spatial interconnectedness that define the immigrant Other in relation to their environment.