Smell and History A Reader
“Smell and History: A Reader” by Mark M. Smith is a first edition published by West Virginia University Press in 2019. This 236-page volume compiles significant essays that explore the history of scent, aromas, and the act of smelling, providing insights into how these elements have influenced various aspects of historical study. With an introduction by Smith, a prominent figure in sensory history, the book serves as a resource for both undergraduate and graduate students, as well as historians from diverse fields.
Readers will find a collection of ten essays that span from antiquity to the present, examining the role of olfaction in shaping medicine, gender, race, class, religion, urbanization, and more. The essays delve into how practices of smelling have informed concepts related to the Enlightenment, modernity, and memory, and how smell has been utilized to categorize and interpret the world throughout history. This edition offers a comprehensive look at the intersection of scent and social history, making it a valuable addition to the study of sensory experiences in historical contexts.
Official synopsis Publisher
Smell and History collects many of the most important recent essays on the history of scent, aromas, perfumes, and ways of smelling. With an introduction by Mark M. Smith–one of the leading social and cultural historians at work today and the preeminent champion in the United States of the emerging field of sensory history–the volume introduces to undergraduate and graduate students as well as to historians of all fields the richness, relevance, and insightfulness of the olfactory to historical study.
Ranging from antiquity to the present, these ten essays, most of them published since 2003, consider how olfaction and scent have shaped the history of medicine, gender, race-making, class formation, religion, urbanization, colonialism, capitalism, and industrialization; how habits and practices of smelling informed ideas about the Enlightenment, modernity, and memory; how smell shaped perceptions of progress and civilization; and how people throughout history have used smell as a way to organize categories and inform worldviews.
Author
Publisher
Topics
FAQ
What is “Smell and History A Reader” about?
Who is the author of “Smell and History A Reader”?
When was “Smell and History A Reader” published?
What is the ISBN for “Smell and History A Reader”?
What are the book details (language, pages, edition)?
