Freezing cold. Northern European imaginaries of winter, snow and ice during the Little Ice Age

What is the cold?

This project starts from the assertion that climate change actualises the need to historicise our conceptions of natural phenomena, such as cold and heat.

It puts today´s climatic awareness and anxiety in perspective by investigating a historical period marked by extreme weather.

By exploring northern European imaginaries of winter, snow and ice during the Little Ice Age (1550–1800) it aims to advance the understanding of discursive, experiential and existential dimensions of the cold.

The overall reserach questions are:How did the cold become an object of knowledge and cultural imaginaries during the Little Ice Age?In what ways were northern experiences and theories of the cold disseminated and articulated?The questions are addressed through three teamed up investigations each responding to specific aspects of the cold as an emerging object of knowledge in early modern Europe: lived experiences and imaginaries of the winter season in Sweden;  theories of the cold within early modern natural philosopy; Artic travelogues narrating encounters with cold, snowy and icy landscapes.

Analyses of previous uncommented, or lesser studied, source material by natural philosophers, polar travellers, painters and poets, journalists and tradesmen, will jointly contribute to pioneer research in regards to the cultural history of climate.

The results will be presented in articles and an anthology, research network on early modern cold climate, and outreach events.