Culture Builders: Nature and Landscapes
             The main areas of Sweden are the mountainous and rural north and the low-level and populous south. Approximately sixty-five per cent of the landscape is forested. There is also an intricate system of large lakes and rivers. With "the weekend excursions out into the countryside with coffee and sandwiches ... [T]he most deeply ingrained trait in the Swedish temperament...is a strong love of nature." (CB P.42) "The 8.5 million Swedes together own more than 600,000 country cottages, even more leisure boats." (CB P.43) It is not surprising that people in Sweden are so fond of nature as this Scandinavian country has one of the world most spectacular natural scenery. Many may think all Swedes share the same perception towards their country's natural environment. However, in the book Culture Builders: A Historical Anthropology of Middle-Class Life, the authors Frykman and Lofgern, challenge this idea by contrasting the understandings of nature and landscape held by the urban middle class, urban poor, and rural peasants in nineteenth century Sweden. In this essay, I am going to discuss the main differences they describe and various other issues.
             In the peasants' point of view, the nature is like a treasure vault as their living all depends on it. "[L]andscape was seen as a sphere of production." (CB P.43) Most of the peasants are craftsmen, fishermen, farmers and hunters. They have to learn to interpret the nature in order to survive in this environment. "[Peasants] could name seventy-five different types of soil...some fishermen had twenty-five different terms for herring." (CB P.45) As we can observe, this kind of knowledge is not easy to learn, especially for the children. Their parents therefore use folklore as a form of education. "Children learned rhymes, ditties, and mnemonic rules about the habits of animals or the uses of plants.&...