Why is our sense of smell so under-appreciated? We tend to think of
smell as a vestigial remnant of our pre-human past, doomed to
gradual extinction, and we go to great lengths to eliminate smells
from our environment, suppressing body odour, bad breath and other
smells. Living in a relatively odour-free environment has numbed us
to the importance that smells have always had in human history and
culture. In this major new book Robert Muchembled restores smell to
its rightful place as one of our most important senses and examines
the transformation of smells in the West from the Renaissance to
the beginning of the 19th century. He shows that in earlier
centuries, the air in towns and cities was often saturated with
nauseating emissions and dangerous pollution. Having little choice
but to see and smell faeces and urine on a daily basis, people
showed little revulsion; until the 1620s, literature and poetry
delighted in excreta which now disgust us. The smell of excrement
and body odours were formative aspects of eroticism and sexuality,
for the social elite and the popular classes alike. At the same
time, medicine explained outbreaks of plague by Satan's poisonous
breath corrupting the air. Amber, musk and civet came to be seen as
vital bulwarks against the devil's breath: scents were worn like
armour against the plague. The disappearance of the plague after
1720 and the sharp decline in fear of the devil meant there was no
longer any point in using perfumes to fight the forces of evil,
paving the way for the olfactory revolution of the 18th century
when softer, sweeter perfumes, often with floral and fruity scents,
came into fashion, reflecting new norms of femininity and a gentler
vision of nature. This rich cultural history of an
under-appreciated sense will be appeal to a wide readership.
General
Imprint: |
Polity Press
|
Country of origin: |
United Kingdom |
Release date: |
May 2020 |
Authors: |
Muchembled
|
Dimensions: |
230 x 152 x 20mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback
|
Pages: |
260 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-5095-3678-8 |
Categories: |
Books >
Humanities >
History >
General
Books >
History >
General
|
LSN: |
1-5095-3678-7 |
Barcode: |
9781509536788 |
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