Knowledge in Transit: Linnaeus in Lapland (1732)
In the summer months of 1732, the Swedish medical student Carl von Linnaeus (1707-1778) traveled through the northern provinces of the Swedish kingdom. The diary sketches, published after Linnaeus's death under the title "Laplandic Journey" (Iter Lapponicum), are considered a pioneering work of ecological and ethnographic field research. Our project proposes to read this early document of scientific travel literature against the grain. The knowledge Linné gathered during his travels was created "on the road" (in transit), i.e., in the passage through intersections of different cultures that could be marked by hospitality, but also by hostility.
Our vision is to create a critical online edition of the travel work, while retracing the journey itself and collaborating with local experts. Translation and re-enactment of the journey will serve as a catalyst for creative and experimental discussions of contemporary problems, which may range from sustainability and prosperity to climate change and the relationship between state sovereignty and indigeneity. By transferring Linnaeus's own methodology to contemporary times, we hope to open up new views of the historical record that allow us to question the origins and authority of scientific knowledge.
Full details on the basic ideas and current status of the project can be found here.