The Impossibility of Isolation in Wallander

Abstract

This article considers perspectives of isolation as explored in the Swedish television series Wallander (2005-present). The series is thoughtful about the striving of a person, region and nation to preserve selfhood in an environment of constant flux and exchange. Set and made in contemporary Sweden, it is alert to the small-nation's position - geographical, socio-political, industrial - in the modern world. The series maps out distinct levels of attempted seclusion and intrusion across boundaries of the Swedish body politic, in national and corporeal forms. Wallander is a vital text in debates surrounding the blurring of boundaries between national television productions and film.