Pieter Van In
Main character: Chief Inspector Pieter Van In
Country of origin: Belgium
Main location: Bruges
Creator: Pieter Aspe
Born in: Bruges, Belgium
Born on: April 3, 1953
Nationality: Belgian
Literary series started in: 1995, Het vierkant van de wraak (Eng. transl.: The Square of Revenge)
Original language: Dutch
Publisher: Manteau
Number of books (original editions): 40
Latest title published in: 2017, Blankenberge Blues
Translations: Yes
Television series title: Aspe
Television series started in: 2004
Producer: VTM
Number of seasons: 10
Latest season broadcast: 2014
Transnational distribution: Yes
Case study rational:
Pieter Aspe started creating the main characters of his crime fiction novels, Chief Inspecteur Pieter Van In, in 1995, the year of publication of his first book: Het vierkant van de wraak (The Square of Revenge). This first title broke the ground for a long series of 40 crime novels (the last of them published in 2017) which contributed to building Aspe’s international success. The book series was translated into different languages, among them English, French, Italian, German. Its popularity in and outside of Flanders lead to the creation of the successful TV series adaptation Aspe, created by the Flemish television station VTM and broadcast in 2004, first in Belgium and later in the Netherland. The series revolves around Chief Inspector Pieter Van In, who is helped by his team and the public prosecutor Hannelore Martens to investigate and solve a series of gruesome murders in and around the iconic Flemish city of Bruges. In his novels, Pieter Aspe skillfully mixes two different dimensions: the suspense created by the murder case and the city’s specific identity, which is recreated and remapped through the characters’ eyes. The sort of duality that characterizes the city of Bruges, charming but at the same time violent and corrupted, mirrors the representation of the main character: Pieter Van In is portrayed as a man with a strict moral compass and as a restorer of the order but at the same time also as a bad-tempered and dissolute man.
Online Research Resources
Watch
Trailer of the Tv series Aspe [in Dutch]:
Trailer of the Tv series Aspe [in Dutch]:
Pieter Aspe talk about his work [in English]:
Pieter Aspe talk about his work [in English]:
Pieter Aspe about Bruges [in Dutch]:
Pieter Aspe about Bruges [in Dutch]:
Explore
Map showing European the Number of European Transmedia Series by Main Locations in the Atlas section on DETECt portal
Read
- Robson, Peter, and Jennifer L. Schulz, eds. A transnational study of law and justice on TV. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2016.
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