Aroma: The Cultural History Of Smell
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Our knowledge of the past is odourless. Yet, smells play an important role in our daily lives: they affect us emotionally, psychologically and physically, and influence the way we engage with history.
In this work, we propose that smells are part of our cultural heritage, and that a structured approach to researching them is required. Several aspects allow us to explore the connection between olfaction and heritage. We will define heritage smells and argue their importance, by focusing on the following: (1) a theoretical review of olfaction and odours in heritage, including (a) the consideration for smells in heritage documents and guidelines, leading to the identification of smell as part of cultural significance of a place or object and (b) the use of smell in a heritage context as a means to engage and communicate with the audience; and (2) techniques for identifying, analysing and archiving smells and therefore enabling their characterization and preservation. These techniques can be approached from two complementary angles: firstly, the chemical analysis of the source of sensation, in our case chemical analysis of the compounds that lead to perception of the smell. Secondly, sensory characterization of that smell in terms of human perception. In the case of historic smells, this dual approach can contribute to a holistic understanding of what the odour represents in terms of the nature, history and state of the object.
The significance of olfaction in the context of cultural heritage, evidencing that smells can be fundamental in shaping who we are, where we belong and how we experience encounters with different cultures, has been recently examined in several case studies. They show that odour can be part of the local identity through history [1]; that a central place for olfactory experiences in a culture results in a much wider vocabulary to discuss smells [2] and that travel and tourism offer an opportunity to approach the world with our noses [3]. However, the role of smells in our perception of and engagement with the past has not been systematically explored.
In the heritage context, experiencing what the world smelled like in the past enriches our knowledge of it, and, because of the unique relation between odours and memories, allows us to engage with our history in a more emotional way [10]. Odours are also powerful cues to remember an exhibition, as demonstrated by Aggleton and Waskett [11] in their work at the Jorvik Viking museum in York, England. In the case of a gallery, the presence of point-of-scent components heightens the enjoyment of the public, in comparison to experiencing the same displays without smells [12].
However, unlike some food and culinary practices, smells are not recognized in the definition of intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO. In spite of sharing a relation to other aspects of intangible cultural heritage, such as language, industries, and tourism [14], the olfactory world is hardly discussed or documented.
Specific smells can also be related to cultural practices, expressions and knowledge. As an example, the art of Asian perfumery is threatened by industrialization and may be in need of protection. The smells carry the information about how practices have evolved throughout history, the materials associated with them and the conditions in which smells were experienced [19]. In this case, smells are associated with intangible practices, although they still emanate from a tangible source, as knowledge has no smell.
The case for the smell of books as a case study is strengthened when the cultural significance is coupled with the research conducted on the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) constituting the aroma of historic books as a non-destructive diagnostic tool for paper degradation [34, 57], which the next section will address further.
At a time where the first olfaction-related inclusion into the UNESCO intangible heritage list is being considered, the discussion around the cultural significance, analysis and preservation of historic smells is highly relevant.
This work has argued that smells can be considered part of our intangible heritage, and that a definition of heritage smells requires an exploration of the relationships aromas have with other aspects of cultural heritage, such as, local practices and traditions, and language.
Anthropologist David Howes is one of the pioneers in the field of sensory studies, and the co-founder of the Centre for Sensory Studies at Concordia University. With this centre, Howes and sensory historian Constance Classen have created an open, yet robust space for exploratory and fundamental research into the cultural history of the senses.
This breaking down of large environmental ecosystems into synthetic representations, which still retain some memory or meaning is both part of modernity and embedded in our twenty-first century lives. It is, therefore, important to recognize, this as well as the role of personal memory, if we are to appreciate what is culturally shared and/or different in the places we construct. Tracing the history of pine scent thus gives us an insight into the breakdown of environmental features into their constituent parts as part of the process of becoming modern, and the move of pine as a therapeutic agent via the institution to the home. However, despite this industrialization of nature which is mirrored by the microscopic understanding of bodies and disease agents into ever smaller parts, cultural connections remain. The forest is still represented in our associations and emotions and thereby retains more meaning than a mere sniff from a bottle would suggest.
This broad survey demonstrates how each community or commodity possesses, or has been thought to possess, its own peculiar scent. Through the meanings associated with smells, osmologies develop--what cultural anthropologists have termed the systems that utilize smells to classify people and objects in ways that define their relations to each other and their relative values within a particular culture. European Christians, for instance, relied on their noses to differentiate Christians from heathens, whites from people of color, women from men, virgins from harlots, artisans from aristocracy, and pollution from perfume.This reliance on smell was not limited to the global North. Around the world, Reinarz shows, people used scents to signify individual and group identity in a morally constructed universe where the good smelled pleasant and their opposites reeked.With chapters including "Heavenly Scents," "Fragrant Lucre," and "Odorous Others," Reinarz's timely survey is a useful and entertaining look at the history of one of our most important but least-understood senses.About the AuthorAbout the AuthorJonathan Reinarz is a professor of the history of medicine and Director at the History of Medicine Unit at the School of Medicine, University of Birmingham (U.K.). He is author of A History of the Birmingham Teaching Hospitals, 1779-1939.ReviewsReviews"Past Scents neatly summarizes many current historical perspectives on smell. More importantly it points to a number of other contemporary perspectives we might take as historians and past sensory perspectives, of women and the lower classes to take two examples, that we might better excavate from the archive."--Reviews in History"This book suggests that engagement with the cultural work of smell both in the past and in the present can be richly rewarding. Reinarz's timely survey of historical perspectives on smell will (hopefully) inspire further research that will move us beyond simple binaries of fragrant/foul and self/other toward more redolent possibilities."--Journal of Interdisciplinary History"Past Scents: Historical Perspectives on Smell by Jonathan Reinarz is an ambitious, lucid, and engaging book that brings some order to the ever-expanding academic literature on smelling, odors, and perfumery. . . . It will no doubt be a useful book for researchers and teachers for many years, and will also continue to be a thoughtful reflection on smell history, composed at a time when this subfield of historiography is particularly flourishing."--American Historical Review"Reinarz's work ambitiously ranges between examples as diverse as fifth century Byzantium and contemporary Columbia, with thematic chapters presenting different prisms for examining the history of smell. . . . Demonstrates that the historiography of smell does not have to justify itself through calling attention to its former absence but can show how smell shaped religious, economic, colonial, gender and urban transformation."--Social History"Past Scents will endure as a valuable compendium of smell scholarship."--H-Net Reviews "The volume is rich in factual detail and benefits from a multi- and interdisciplinary perspective. . . . Reinarz has provided a significant contribution to the history of olfaction."--H-Soz-KultBlurbs"Past Scents makes a timely and welcome addition to the rapidly evolving scholarship on the history of the senses. Through an engaging tour of the field and a comprehensive survey of prior studies, Jonathan Reinarz awakens the reader's senses to the history and power of smell."--William A. Cohen, author of Embodied: Victorian Literature and the Senses Book Details Pages: 296 pages Dimensions: 6 x 9 in Illustrations: 13 black & white photographs AnthropologyHistory, WorldSociology Related Titles google.books.load();function initialize() { var viewer = new google.books.DefaultViewer(document.getElementById('viewerCanvas')); var canvas = document.querySelector('.viewer-bg'); var previewBtn = document.getElementById('preview-button') previewBtn.addEventListener('click', ()=>{ canvas.classList.add('active') //alert(res); //viewer.load('ISBN:'+res, alertNotFound); //var viewer = new google.books.DefaultViewer(document.getElementById('viewerCanvas')); var a = Array('ISBN:9780252034947','ISBN:9780252079795','ISBN:9780252096020'); viewer.load(a, alertNotFound); }) var closeBtn = document.querySelector('.close-viewer'); closeBtn.addEventListener('click', ()=> { canvas.classList.remove('active') })}function alertNotFound(){ var canvas = document.querySelector('.viewer-bg'); var error = document.createElement('h2'); error.innerText = 'No Preview Available For This Title.'; error.style.color = 'white'; error.style.textAlign = 'center'; canvas.appendChild(error)}google.books.setOnLoadCallback(initialize); X function OptanonWrapper() { } Stay Connected Join Our Mailing List © Copyright 2023 2b1af7f3a8