This thesis uses the letters of Carl Linnaeus to investigate the social and academic practices ofgeologists in the 18th century. Geology in the 18th century is understudied, and this study usessources written by Linnaeus, who was not famous but nevertheless active in geology, to study thedaily practices of geologists. Collective biography is used to bring together small and disparate datapoints. Personal factors had an influence on the practices the geologists engaged in. Though theactivities of nobles and academics could be similar, gender was a limiting factor, restricting the fieldto all women but those of the highest status. Age and seasonality were, surprisingly, very importantin determining which activities were undertaken. In the field, geologists’ travels were also impactedby their age. Their reporting on their travels was often linked to academic discussions, withcorresponding expectations of what they might find, and presentation of their findings that seemedto replicate the note taking in the field. This was part of a wider trend, also seen in exchangesbetween practitioners, of bringing the outside world into the study of the geologist. That way, theycould experience areas they were not likely to visit themselves. This was done intentionally, andgeologists took care to send each other interesting rocks. In much the same way, information wasexchanged between geologists, informing a correspondent of local geological features. Writtenpractices extended into giving recommendations for membership of academic societies andreviewing each other’s publications.The actions of geologists indicate that geology was a heterogeneous professional field (inBourdieu’s sense of the word) when it comes to the social origin of the practitioners. Nobles andacademics often engaged in similar activities, and worked together on equal standing, despite thestatus imbalance. Overall, geology in the 18th century gives the impression of an open field, in whichpractitioners were not in competition with each other, but aimed to complete each other’sknowledge, which would naturally be fragmented by their distance and the difficulties of travel.

This thesis project explores landscape and the transformations that occur to it over time. Using architectural interventions the project sets out to find a way of narrating and emphasising the transformation processes that take place in the landscape, striving to challenge and deepen the understanding of both man’s and nature’s impact on the environment we inhabit. With the backdrop of the city of Uppsala and the well documented findings of Carl Linnaeus’ field studies along his herbal excursion trails called the Herbationes Upsaliensis, this project takes a closer look on one of the trails, the Ultuna trail.  From investigating the trail, a selection of stories representing different types of landscape transformations that have taken place along the trail, has been made. By introducing an alternative trail parallel to the Ultuna trail, lined with architectural interventions, the objective has been to present the Ultuna trail from new perspectives, creating a new way of experiencing of our surroundings.

In the 1700’s, natural history played an essential part in constructing the western view of the east and its inhabitants. Based on this assumtion, the primary aim of this study has been to examine how two of Carl Linaeus’ apostles (Petrus Forsskål and Fredric Hasselquist) wrote about their specific cultural encounters while travelling.   In its essence, the results of the study has been that Mary Louise Pratts  previous writings are applicable also on the travel writings of Forsskål och Hasselquist. Altough with a few significant deviations. For example it seems that the apostles considered the native history more relevant than what Pratts theory would give them credit for.

The aim of this study is to examine the use of famous historical or fictional persons in place branding. It seeks to analyze the images of places that are produced, and the representations of persons that are used in branding practices. Largely this use is located within a tourist discourse, begging the question how tourists take part in the shaping of these cities. In sum, the study aims to examine constructions of the past and the present, as well as representations of gender. The main question is which parts of the history of a city are described and which sites are highlighted. Four cases studies are presented. First, the uses of the heritage connected with author Selma Lagerlöf in and around Sunne are examined, in particular her former residence, Mårbacka, now musealized. Second, Uppsala's and Småland's uses of the Carl Linnaeus heritage are surveyed. Third, the uses of inventor Johan Petter Johansson in Enköping are studied, and fourth the tourist and heritage practices around fictional police detective Kurt Wallander in Ystad are examined. Taken at face value, these examples differ from each other in many ways. The aim of the dissertation is to track these differences, but also the likenesses in practices, meaning production and visualizations. In sum, the aim of this dissertation is to examine how the productions of meaning are influenced through the use of these individuals. How do visitors influence the production on these heritage sites? Is there room for change in descriptions of persons and places? How are ideas of authenticity produced when places are viewed through one individual? What ideas of gender and masculinity are produced?

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the images of Sápmi and the Saami people that existed among natural historians during the eighteenth century through the lens of Carl Linnaeus' Lapland journey 1732. It examines how these images were tied to the societal discourses of the time and if and how these images were used during the Swedish colonisation of Sápmi. This was done by doing a close reading of Flora Lapponica, Iter Lapponicum and Diaeta naturalis, noting emerging themes and trying to identify the societal discourses shaping these themes. The thesis finds that Linnaeus' descriptions of Sápmi and the Saami often are heavily mythologising and that Linnaeus, inspired by gothicism and primitivism, liked to use the Saami as didactic examples. However, these idealised descriptions are contradicted by Linnaeus himself. In the same texts he describes the Saami as both the pinnacles of health and as drunken and sickly. Linnaeus was also influenced by mercantilist thought and suggested many plans on how to best use Sápmis natural resources and thereby increase the Swedish states profits. The Saami, viewed as primitive but now without primitivism’s positive connotations, were seen as incapable of correctly exploiting their resources themselves. If Linnaeus' plans had been implemented they would have destroyed the Saami lifestyle Linnaeus claimed to idealise. The thesis concludes that while Linnaeus painted an idealised picture of Sápmi and the Saami in his text he did so knowing that it was at least partially false. He used these theoretical Saami to criticise his own society and as didactic examples for his fellow Swedes, but in practice had no problems with the colonial exploitation of Sápmi.