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- Nyberg, Kenneth, 1971
(författare)
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Bilder av Mittens rike. Kontinuitet och förändring i svenska resenärers Kinaskildringar 1749-1912 : Images of the Middle Kingdom. Continuity and Change in Swedish Travelers' Accounts of China, 1749-1912
- 2001
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of this thesis is to describe and analyze the images of China in Swedish travelers’ published accounts – traditional travelogues as well as diaries, diplomatic reports, letters, and geographical handbooks – between 1749 and 1912. The main problem of the study is the question of continuity and change in these images, which are seen as the result of an encounter between preconceived notions and personal experience. What is the outcome of this constantly ongoing confrontation, as prevailing ideas and expectations in travelers’ minds are challenged by firsthand impressions of a complex Chinese reality? In earlier research, it has often been argued that the essential characteristic of Western images of other cultures has been their ethnocentrism and tendency toward derogatory generalizations about "the other", including elaborately racist ideas. The point of departure here is a certain degree of skepticism about some of those findings. In my view, there has been a propensity to oversimplify the perceptions of the world held by Westerners in the Early Modern era, resulting in a possibly misleading emphasis on certain image elements at the expense of more ambiguous ideas and attitudes. Examining the sources confirms that even in the relatively small group of authors and texts studied here, the images of China were hardly homogenous except in a very general sense. The Swedish travelers agreed on many issues and shared many perceptions, but it was never as simple as their accounts being wholly dominated by certain assumptions and sets of values common to all Westerners. Instead, their images of the “Middle Kingdom” were characterized by ambivalence and contradictions as well as generalizations and stereotypes. Ethnocentrism is invariably present in the writings of the Swedes, and there are occasional instances of fully developed racism as well. Yet, there are also many examples of the opposite: moderation, understanding, and appreciation. Therefore, I argue that we must stress the complexity of the travelers’ response, the tension between continuity and change, the encounter between the “discourse” and the individual.
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| 2. |
- Nyberg, Kenneth, 1971
(författare)
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Den europeiska drömmen om Kina
- 2002
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Ingår i: Göran Alm (red.), Kina slott. - Stockholm : Byggförlaget. - 9179882315 ; , s. 34-47, s. 34-47
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 3. |
- Nyberg, Kenneth, 1971
(författare)
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En linneansk resa mellan guldålder och efterklang
- 2009
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Ingår i: Historisk Tidskrift för Finland. - 0046-7596. ; 94:1, s. 97-101
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Recension (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Recension av: Christina Granroth under medverkan av Patricia Berg & Maren Jonasson (utg.), C. F. Hornstedt, Brev från Batavia. En resa till Ostindien 1782-1786 (Helsingfors och Stockholm 2008).
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| 6. |
- Nyberg, Kenneth, 1971
(författare)
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Linnaeus' apostles, scientific travel and the East India trade
- 2009
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Ingår i: Zoologica Scripta. - 1463-6409. ; 38:s1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper discusses the significance of East India trade to scientific travel in the 18th century, focusing in particular on the so-called 'apostles' or travelling students of Linnaeus. On the one hand, enterprises such as the Swedish East India Company (SOIC) were of crucial importance by providing both incentives for natural history research and the necessary infrastructure for scientific travel. It is indeed difficult to imagine most of the apostles' expeditions without the framework of East India trade. On the other hand, there were also obvious limits to the willingness of the SOIC to actively sponsor research which was not immediately useful or profitable; such support was typically only given to travellers working on board as chaplains or surgeons, and only as long as it did not interfere with their regular duties. In this context, I briefly discuss the complicated relationship — in the 18th century no less than today — between two contrasting scientific ideals: one based on the notion of curiosity or the search for knowledge as an end in itself and the other fuelled by a belief that science is meaningless if it does not yield tangible benefits to human economy and society.
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| 8. |
- Nyberg, Kenneth, 1971
(författare)
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Pehr Löfling's Letter-book in the Archives of the Real Jardín Botánico in Madrid: A catalogue
- 2008
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Bok (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Pehr Löfling (1729–1756) was one of the most talented students of Carl Linnaeus. He made important contributions to contemporary knowledge of the Spanish flora and was one of the first to study the plants of South America according to the new principles of taxonomy advanced by Linnaeus. Through him direct contacts were also established for the first time between leading Spanish and Swedish botanists. Most of Löfling’s manuscripts and drawings are preserved in the Archives of the Real Jardín Botánico in Madrid, but despite its scientific and historical significance this collection is not very well known. Efforts are now underway to make it more accessible and one tangible outcome of that work is this catalogue of Löfling's "Letter-book," where he kept drafts and outlines of letters to Linnaeus and other Swedish correspondents (relatives, friends, colleagues and patrons) from May 1751 to October 1754. Many of the original letters no longer remain, while those still surviving are scattered in various archives and libraries; thus the letter-book is an important source of knowledge about Löfling’s scientific work and the activities of other botanists with whom he corresponded. This catalogue provides an overview of its contents and includes an introduction as well as notes with brief references.
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| 10. |
- Nyberg, Kenneth, 1971
(författare)
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Sparrman, Anders
- 2007
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Ingår i: Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon. ; 33, s. 3-13
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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