Deckardrottningar kontra deckarkungar : Om könsbundna marknadsföringsstrategier i 2000-talets svenska deckargenre

• This article deals with the successful Swedishcrime writers and the gendered aspects of how they are marketed towards thereaders in the 2000s. The purpose is to show how Swedish publishers follow distinctgender patterns in their marketing of crime fiction, and to discuss how thisaffects the responses to male and female crime novelists in cultural and mediallandscapes. The empirical material consists of 153 Swedish crime novels,published in paperback between 1998 and 2011. Theoretically, the article connectsto the field of book history insofar as the printed book itself is seen asimportant when it comes to how literary works are perceived by their readers.The results show that male and female authors of crime fiction in general havebeen marketed recognizably different in almost all possible ways. In the books’extra materials and other author-centred peritexts, female authors areassociated with the private and the family related. Male authors, on the otherhand, are most often described as proficient, well writing and engaged insocial criticism. Furthermore, the book covers are clearly gendered: covers bymale authors are darker, more serious and more traditional to the crime genre;covers by female authors are brighter, more “fun” and reminiscent of chick litrather than of traditional crime fiction. The main conclusion is that thegender gap shown in these paperbacks support and maintain the stereotype thatmale and female authors write different types of crime fiction, with maleauthors being valued the most. The paratextual division of male and femalecrime writers, thus, upholds the established and gendered hierarchy in thegenre.

Ämnesord

HUMANIORA  -- Språk och litteratur -- Litteraturstudier (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Languages and Literature -- Specific Literatures (hsv//eng)

HUMANIORA  -- Annan humaniora -- Kulturstudier (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Other Humanities -- Cultural Studies (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Genusstudier (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Gender Studies (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Swedish crime fiction

popular fiction

contemporary book trade

marketing strategies

book history

gender studies

Svenska deckare

kriminallitteratur

populärlitteratur

bokmarknad

marknadsföring

bokhistoria

genusstudier

Literature

Litteraturvetenskap

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)