Description for Aroma
Paperback. This text argues that smell is repressed in the modern West, and its social history ignored. It attempts to break the "olfactory silence" of modernity by offering an exploration of the cultural role of odours in Western history and in a wide variety of non-Western societies. Num Pages: 256 pages, bibliography. BIC Classification: JFC; JHM. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational; (UP) Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly; (UU) Undergraduate. Dimension: 216 x 142 x 17. Weight in Grams: 354.
Smell is a social phenomenon, given particular meanings and values by different cultures. Odours form the building blocks of cosmologies, class hierarchies, and political odours. They can enforce social structures or transgress them, unite people or divide them, empower or disempower. The authors argue that the sociology of smell is repressed in the modern West, and its social history ignored. This book breaks the "olfactory silence" of modernity. It offers the first comprehensive exploration of the cultural role of odours in Western history - from antiquity to the present. It also covers a wide variey of non-Western societies. ... Read more
Smell is a social phenomenon, given particular meanings and values by different cultures. Odours form the building blocks of cosmologies, class hierarchies, and political odours. They can enforce social structures or transgress them, unite people or divide them, empower or disempower. The authors argue that the sociology of smell is repressed in the modern West, and its social history ignored. This book breaks the "olfactory silence" of modernity. It offers the first comprehensive exploration of the cultural role of odours in Western history - from antiquity to the present. It also covers a wide variey of non-Western societies. ... Read more
Product Details
Publisher
Taylor & Francis Ltd United Kingdom
Number of pages
256
Format
Paperback
Publication date
1994
Condition
New
Number of Pages
256
Place of Publication
London, United Kingdom
ISBN
9780415114738
SKU
V9780415114738
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 4 to 8 working days
Ref
99-2
About Constance Classen
Constance Classen is the author of Inca Cosmology and the Human Body and Worlds of Sense; David Howes is the editor of The Varieties of Sensory Experience; and Anthony Synnott is the author of The Body Social.
Reviews for Aroma
`One of the most common ritual uses of odour across cultures is to combat illness,' write the authors of Aroma' - Glasgow Herald `Aroma is a fund of stimulating stories and has obviously been well researched.' - Times Higher Educ Supplement