A Day of Discoveries at the Linnean Society

Old manuscripts, books and letters can open a window on the past even in the digital age. While there is no guarantee that last year’s ebooks and apps will open after the next software update, the pages of a centuries-old book will still turn tomorrow. Much of the past is available digitised online today. Can it beat the thrill of seeing the original manuscripts for yourself? Let me tell you about a very special library and its treasures tucked away in London’s Piccadilly for Libraries Week (8-13 October 2018).

It was a thrill to discover the treasured books and manuscripts of Carl Linnaeus or Carl von Linné last week. Dr Isabelle Charmantier, Head of Collections, gave a talk on the famous Swedish botanist and his classification system at the Linnean Society of London. I followed the talk with one of the society’s regular treasure tours.

Linnaeus was a fellow bibliophile. It must have been purgatory not having access to his professor's library. He even drew a map of his professor's home showing the long corridor from his room to the library in the opposite wing. His late night reading and note-taking caused consternation. The professor's wife worried about the house being burnt down if he fell asleep by candlelight. The professor investigated. Linnaeus gained access to the library.

I marvelled at Linnaeus' ability to classify so much information in a pre-computer age. I admired his neat handwriting - a lost skill for many today. His precocious taxonomic talent and intentions were obvious in his twenties.

Facsimile of neatly handwritten classification records 

The manuscripts on display at the seminar were facsimiles. The real treasures are held in a special vault in the basement. It houses Carl Linnaeus' botanical and entomological collections, along with his own library's books, papers and letters.

Inside of the vault at the Linnean Society of London on the treasures tour

How did the Swedish botanist's collections end up in London? 

When Linnaeus died his wife offered his collections for sale as urged by the botanist to cover dowries for their daughters. Joseph Banks of the Royal Academy and Kew expressed interest. Linnaeus' son protested and took good care of the collection until his own death. 

Portrait of James Edward Smith in the library

Joseph Banks was no longer interested. He urged the botanist James Edward Smith to acquire the collection instead. There followed a series of letters between James Edward Smith and his wealthy wool merchant father. He gradually wore his father down and the Linnean Society of London was founded.

Our guide turns the page of one of two original manuscripts

Our tour guide for the day was the Linnean Society's retired librarian. She shared her fascination with her former charges. The Linnean Society is very grateful to the Mellon Foundation for its donations to help digitise and conserve the precious collections. 

A Different Taste of Sweden

The University of Westminster staged its first Difference Festival this week. Andrew Linn, the Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Social Sciences and Humanities, described it as a 'Festival of the Mind'. The various talks celebrated difference in one way or another.
I attended the 'Discover Swedish Language and Culture' talk. Christina Nilsson promised to demonstrate that there is much more to Swedish culture than ABBA, IKEA and pickled herring.

The presentation began with a flurry of pictures and figures, as Christina set about keeping her promise to reveal Swedish society, mentality, language, food and music.

Country and Population Facts

Sweden's place in Europe

Sweden has 10 million inhabitants in the 5th largest country in Europe (in terms of land area).
85% of Swedes live in cities.
The capital is Stockholm. 2nd city Göteborg and 3rd city Malmö.

Less than 3% of the land is built upon. 
Sweden is long and thin: 1,574km long to be precise.
69% of the country is forest. 
15-17% were born in another country.

Other Residents
More than 300,000 elks
200,000 reindeer

Elk on hillside with forest background

Stockholm and its islands
Water, water, everywhere.
Stockholm is built on 14 islands.
It has 57 bridges.
The Stockholm archipelago consists of 30,000 small islands.

Stockholm surrounded by water

Swedish Culture
Murders? With exported TV series such as Wallander, Beck and Girl with a Dragon Tattoo... it might appear that Swedes are a murderous bunch. 

Sweden: multiple crime scenes - fact or fiction?

Why are such crime dramas so popular? The long, long, dark nights...
Nordic Noir authors wanted to point out what is wrong with Swedish society. 

Food
Fika - essential coffee and cake as often as possible. Whether meeting a friend or  at work, both in the morning and the afternoon, Fika is not to be missed.

Fika: coffee and a bun

Music
Swedes are proud of their music. Christina ran through a host of musicians to prove that Sweden has more than ABBA to offer.
3rd largest exporter of music.

The Eurovision Song Contest is a really big deal in Sweden. The selection process goes on for weeks with elimination rounds and second chances on the way to the final. The whole country watches on TV. Swedes take Eurovision seriously. Well-known stars take part. Only Ireland has won more Eurovision contests than Sweden.

Swedish Inventions

Swedes have shared an impressive range of inventions with the world.

Examples include the dialysis machine, pacemaker, zip, ombudsman, 3-point seat belt, Tetra Pack, Minecraft, Spotify, Candy Crush, Skype, safety match, etc.

The zip: a Swedish invention

Swedish Society
Swedes rely on the State to provide for them - childcare, maternity pay and pensions.
They are happy to pay high taxes.
They expect the State to look after them when they need help.
The State Pension is set at 80% of your salary.
Childcare costs just £100 per month. Sweden has the highest proportion of working mothers as a result.

Law of Jante
Swedes expect an egalitarian society. The Law of Jante can help you to understand Swedish mentality:

1.  You're not to think you are anything special.
2.  You're not to think you are as good as we are.
3.  You're not to think you are smarter than we are.
4.  You're not to convince yourself that you are better than we are.
5.  You're not to think you know more than we do.
6.  You're not to think you are more important than we are.
7.  You're not to think you are good at anything.
8.  You're not to laugh at us.
9.  You're not to think anyone cares about you.
10. You're not to think you can teach us anything.

These 'rules' can also have a negative side. You should not boast about personal achievements. There are strong expectations of how to behave and dress. You should think of people as a group and contribute as a group. Young Swedes are trying to break out of this mentality today. 

Swedish Cultural Behaviour

Swedes have a reputation for being cool and standoffish. The Spanish even had an idiom based on them: hacerse el sueco - to behave like a Swede. They will not speak or say hello on a bus for instance. They ignore everyone.

Their straight-talking can appear rude. There is no word for 'please' in Swedish.

It is not unusual to be quiet for long periods over dinner. 

Apparent 'rudeness' should perhaps be interpreted as the sign of a nation that values its privacy. Some speculated that this was influenced by the climate. The winter cold prevents you from 'hanging about' to chat. Neighbours may not live that close to one another.

A New In-word?

The craze for Danish hygge is old hat. This year's in-word is lagom according to the Media. It is another of those untranslatable words. It means 'just about right. Not too much, not too little'.  The trouble is any one person's too much or too little is different. The word has its origin in sharing mead and ensuring that everyone got the same amount.

Love of Nature

Swedes love nature. They love to spend the long summer days out of the office walking in the woods, etc. 

Hiker in midnight sun in Sweden

Allemansrätten or 'right of public access' is very important in Sweden. It gives everyone the right to access the Swedish countryside.

Many Swedes have summerhouses in which they like to stay at weekends. Often these summerhouses are not that far from their main homes. It is also common to own a boat.

Midsummer celebrations are as big as Christmas in Sweden. Swedes still celebrate Pagan festivals.

Swedish Midsummer Celebration

Swedish Language

Christina explained that Swedish is very similar to Danish and Norwegian. It is more similar to English than we might expect. Danish is viewed as the more difficult language. 

A list of similar looking and sounding words appear on screen followed by a host of false friends. The word gift caused some laughter - it means both married and poison.

The evening ended with an invitation to sample further cultural differences and languages. In addition to Swedish, the University of Westminster also offers language courses in Arabic, Bulgarian, Cantonese, Chinese, Croatian & Serbian, Danish, Dutch, Farsi, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, European Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish.

Further information about Sweden can be found on the official website for Sweden. The Swedish Institute offer more information on 'Swedishness'. Podcasts are a popular form of communication in Sweden.

Karen Andrews is a freelance French to English translator, transcreator, content writer and editor. She has a strong background in global marketing.

Email Karen for further information via karenanglicityen@gmail.com in French, German or English.

Nordic Minimalism at Christmas

Christmas is the time of year when everyone seems to go over the top with decorations. I highlighted London's lights and elaborately decorated shop windows in earlier blogs. One store's window stood out for its minimalist decorations on my Christmas walking tour: Skandium, the Scandinavian design and furniture retailer.

I saw a Christmas tree that was barely decorated and a straw goat.

Skandium Knightsbridge store window after closing time

There were two more straw goats on the opposite side.

Cultural tastes and norms
Let's be frank here: it looks as if the store simply hasn't made much of an effort for Christmas. I recalled my many years of working with Nordic countries. My experience told me that the seeming absence of a display is simply a reflection of Nordic cultural tastes and norms.

Is a global look and feel possible?
The minimalist 'display' reminded me of past Nordic reviewers who disliked 'ostentation' in American corporate style. They regularly wanted the style toned down.

Meanwhile, the Japanese wanted the visuals for their corporate brochures to look more 'showy' for its target audience. American corporate identity guidelines rarely tolerate and accommodate Japanese style, norms and expectations easily.

Nordic and Japanese tastes and expectations are practically at opposite poles. Such cultural differences make it difficult, and sometimes even impossible, for a company to have a single, effective corporate look and feel globally.

Swedish tradition
So what's with the straw ornaments? It is a Swedish tradition to make straw ornaments at Christmas (see YouTube video below).

Gävle goat
The Gävle goat is Sweden's famous straw goat. It is erected at the start of Advent. Unfortunately, the stories of vandalism and arson have become as famous as the goat. Various security measures have tried to protect it over the years. It barely lasted more than a few hours before being torched this year.

Washington Post report 2016

Sweden's News in English 2016

2012 ITN report video:

Other Nordic ornaments
I was pleased to see that there were still straw goats in the windows at Skandium when I passed the store again a week later. I also took a look at the other straw, minimalist and rustic-looking Christmas ornaments inside. Lots of candles and candle holders too. A bit pricey for my budget, but I admired their simplicity nonetheless.

I would have taken a close-up photo of the large straw goat in the window. Unfortunately, the couple who followed me out were stopped by security for a bag search. As a result, I simply couldn't get the right angle for a good shot.

You may appreciate more Nordic Christmas ornaments in the following video instead:

Karen Andrews is a freelance French to English translator, transcreator, content writer and editor. She has a strong background in global marketing.

Email Karen for further information via karenanglicityen@gmail.com in French, German or English.