Day 244: Taxonomy Tuesday

I'm often asked by Swedes, "What's that in English?" Referring to a tree or passing critter.  I usually don't know. It's incredibly tragic: my [our] disconnection from the world around us. Not the world in media. Not the world in politics. Not the world in academia. Not even the world in friendships. The world in its rawest, earthiest sense.

Although I reject the imperialistic scent of formal & rigid categorization and classification, it's sort of fun to go 'hunting-by-name'

The dream of this theme was to use a fancy Flora & Fauna of Sweden reference book and try to find and identify various crittery characters. But I can't even afford the books for my master's, so I feel a bit guilty splurging on blog books. I'll seek out a loaner version or perhaps a snappy online resource for future blogs [I plan on keeping this theme around].  For today we'll dabble on my dearest. Hedgehog.

Sometimes I wonder if my attachment to hedgehogs is related to naming. Its English name, hedgehog, is connected to memories, dream worlds, and expectations. What if I was forced to think of it instead of, and exclusively, as igelkott [swedish]? How important is the experience with, and thus, symbolic attachment to names?  Would a hedgehog by any other name smell as sweet??

And now, Hedgehog in Action.