The so-called “Millennium Series,” a trilogy that includes The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2005), The Girl who Played with Fire (2006), and The Girl who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest (2007), has quickly become a global phenomenon. Written by journalist and activist Stieg Larsson, all three books were published in Sweden within two years of each other, with foreign language translations following suite shortly thereafter. A film trilogy based on the books also became an international sensation and a new U.S. version is in production. In the trilogy, Lisbeth Salander, the female protagonist with Asperger’s Syndrome, is a young adult survivor of (psychological, physical, sexual) abuse. She comes to the aid of investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist, as he tries to solve a 40-year mystery of the disappearance of a young woman. This unusual team wades through a world of extreme corruption, exploitation, violence, sexism, racism, family abuse, incest, and more in order to bring justice to its victim. According to one reviewer, “[Larsson’s] favorite targets are violence against women, the incompetence and cowardice of investigative journalists, the moral bankruptcy of big capital and the virulent strain of Nazism still festering away beneath all that shiny Swedish fairness.”
Literature is a powerful medium, because stories shape our understanding of the world and ourselves. Representations of gender, violence, and security transmitted in literature also shape women’s political roles in society. This project of the University of San Francisco's Women and Violence Research Group aims at examining this contemporary popular representation of women and violence in order to better understand, not only the appeal of such representations to the public, but also to deconstruct a post-modern representation of physical, social, political, economic violence against women, and its consequences. How does Lisbeth’s character, both victim and perpetrator of violence, challenge traditional notions of women as a ‘protected’ category in security studies? Is there any significance to the title change, from the Swedish Män som hatar kvinnor (men who hate women) to the English The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo? What is the relationship between Larsson’s political intentions as an anti-right wing activists and the popular culture appeal of the films – especially the Hollywood version currently in production to be released in December 2011?
The examination of the “Millennium Series” offers an collaborative opportunity for the Women and Violence Research Group and the student-centered Gender and Sexuality Center at the University of San Francisco. The Gender and Sexuality Center was created in April 2009 as a “safe space” to address issues of sexual violence. The Center currently serves as a centralized resource for the University community to promote programs, events and resources related to gender, sexuality and violence. The Center follows the American College Health Association recommendations to prevent sexual violence on college campuses. One of the best practices encourages campuses to “integrate sexual violence education into curricular and non-curricular activities.” The reading groups offers an opportunity for student, staff and faculty to further explore the role of women in violence in a non-curricular activity. As such, the objectives of the Millennium Reading Group project will enhance the efforts of the Gender and Sexuality Center.
