The Sociology of Odors

Largey, Gale; Watson, David

doi:10.1086/225257

Cited by 122 publications

(90 citation statements)

References 6 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…depuis un niveau subordonné en l'absence de précision sur le contexte d'énonciation. Autrement dit, le jugement catégoriel des odeurs tend à s'inscrire simultanément dans deux logiques classificatoires, la première strictement olfactive, la seconde renvoyant à des entités associées, qu'il s'agisse de la source de l'odeur, d'un souvenir, du contexte physique et social et, notamment, des normes qui encadrent les jugements perceptifs (Largey & Watson 1972 ;Corbin 1982 ;Albert 2007), de l'effet produit sur la personne ou d'un peu tout cela à la fois. Pour cette raison, les dimensions verticale et horizontale de la catégori-sation des odeurs sont beaucoup plus difficiles à distinguer que dans le registre des couleurs.…”

Section: Les Dimensions Verticale Et Horizontaleunclassified

Les catégories d'odeurs en sont-elles vraiment ?

Candau¹,

Wathelet²

2011

Langages

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Distribution électronique Cairn.info pour Armand Colin. © Armand Colin. Tous droits réservés pour tous pays.La reproduction ou représentation de cet article, notamment par photocopie, n'est autorisée que dans les limites des conditions générales d'utilisation du site ou, le cas échéant, des conditions générales de la licence souscrite par votre établissement. Toute autre reproduction ou représentation, en tout ou partie, sous quelque forme et de quelque manière que ce soit, est interdite sauf accord préalable et écrit de l'éditeur, en dehors des cas prévus par la législation en vigueur en France. Il est précisé que son stockage dans une base de données est également interdit.

show abstract

Section: Les Dimensions Verticale Et Horizontaleunclassified

Les catégories d'odeurs en sont-elles vraiment ?

Candau¹,

Wathelet²

2011

Langages

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Indeed, olfactory somatic rules are largely legitimized by discourses of -health‖ and -cleanliness‖ (Largey and Watson 1972)-discourses that, among many things, equate cleanliness with godliness and that which is healthy and clean with a pleasant smell; a cultural motif frequently exploited by the advertising industry. For example, -laundry not only has to be clean, but it has to smell clean‖ (Synnott 1993:193, emphasis in original).…”

Section: Somatic Rules: Moral Order and Moral Odormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As stated by Largey andWatson (1972:1022) -particular odors, whether real or alleged, are sometimes used as indicants of the moral purity of particular individuals and groups within the social order, the consequences of which are indeed real.‖ The bitter stench of stigma clearly reveals moral judgment (see Tuzin 2006). During the middle ages it was believed that sorcerers and heretics could be detected by their foul odor (Summers 1956:44).…”

Section: Somatic Rules: Moral Order and Moral Odormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Odor avoidance refers to cultural inclinations to avoid individuals, groups, or environments that are considered foul smelling; odor-attraction refers to cultural tendencies to approve of individuals, groups, or environments that are considered aromatically pleasing (Largey and Watson 1972). These basic cultural olfactory processes are expressed in deodorizing ritualsculturally grounded practices that entail -the removal of socially discreditable odors through such activities as washing, gargling, and cleansing of teeth‖ (Largey andWatson 1972:1027), and odorizing rituals-practices that involve the -presentation of self with accreditable odors through the ‗art' of perfuming‖ (Largey andWatson 1972:1027). By means of deodorizing and odorizing rituals people attempt -to avoid moral stigmatization and present an olfactory identity that will be in accord with social expectations, in turn, gaining moral accreditation: he who smells good is good‖ (Largey andWatson 1972:1028).…”

Section: Somatic Rules: Moral Order and Moral Odormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These basic cultural olfactory processes are expressed in deodorizing ritualsculturally grounded practices that entail -the removal of socially discreditable odors through such activities as washing, gargling, and cleansing of teeth‖ (Largey andWatson 1972:1027), and odorizing rituals-practices that involve the -presentation of self with accreditable odors through the ‗art' of perfuming‖ (Largey andWatson 1972:1027). By means of deodorizing and odorizing rituals people attempt -to avoid moral stigmatization and present an olfactory identity that will be in accord with social expectations, in turn, gaining moral accreditation: he who smells good is good‖ (Largey andWatson 1972:1028). However, as we will soon illustrate, deodorizing and odorizing rituals intersect with positive and negative interpersonal rituals (Durkheim 1915, Goffman 1971) that either -affirm and support the social relationship‖ between odors and their source or evoke the -individual's right to private ‗preserves' and ‗to be let alone'‖ (Cahill 1985:39).…”

Section: Somatic Rules: Moral Order and Moral Odormentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Smell, Odor, and Somatic Work: Sense-Making and Sensory Management

Waskul

Vannini

2008

Soc Psychol Q

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Sensation (noun) is emergent in joint acts of sensing (verb). To sense, in other words, is to make sense, and sense making entails what we call -somatic work.‖ We investigate these dynamics in the context of olfaction, highlighting how olfaction intersects with social, cultural, and moral order-thus compelling reflexive forms of somatic work by which people manage smell (as an act) and odor (as a sign). Our data are drawn from a convenience sample of twenty-three participants who reflected on their olfactory experiences through the use of research journals. We focus on three central dynamics: participants' attribution of meaning to odors, the somatic rules that structure perception, and olfactory facework. The participants in this study attribute meaning to odor through odiferous indexes that intersect with an individual's somatic career; olfactory somatic rules entail disciplined somatic work in relation to the intensity of odor, its context, and moral/aesthetic character; because odor conveys meaning it is part of the ritualized facework of everyday life. Odor is a subtle but significant component of the culturally normative and aesthetic rituals of expressive and impressive everyday life. 1 Flesh and organs bestow the capacity to sense, but they are merely the raw materials by which somatic perception is wrought. The act of perception requires the reflexive faculty to feel or perceive.Central to the very nature of the act (Mead 1938) and to the processes of making sense of the world (Dewey 1934; Peirce 1931) somatic perception is a reflexive expression of sociality-a fundamental basis for a sensuous understanding of the social world (Stoller 1989(Stoller , 1997 and for the -possibility of a discipline of ‗sociosomatics'‖ (Berger and Luckmann 1966:208)-a dynamic in which carnal sensations -become objects to ourselves‖ (Mead 1938:429). Sensations are -both a reaching out to the world and a source of information and an understanding of that world so gathered‖ (Rodaway 1994:5).In this study we explore reflexive dimensions of somatic perception from an eclectic symbolic interactionist approach which views both the perceptive self and the signs of its perception as semiotic processes (Halton 1986;Wiley 1994). We pay attention not only to significant symbols, but also other important and much under-analyzed semiotic resources like indexes (see RochbergHalton 1982). We argue that sensation (noun) is emergent in joint acts of sensing (verb). To sense, in other words, is to make sense, and sense making entails what we call -somatic work.‖ We investigate these dynamics in the context of olfaction, and seek to contribute to sociological literatures on sensual perception¹ (also see Fine 1995) We highlight how olfaction intersects with social, cultural, and moral order thus compelling reflexive forms of somatic work by which people manage smell (as an act) and odor (as signs). We focus on three central dynamics: participants' attribution of meaning to odors, the somatic rules that structure perception, and olf...

show abstract

Smell

Low¹

2018

The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Previously occupying a low status in Western thought and culture, smell has since been studied vis‐à‐vis a wide‐ranging spectrum of sociality and through its differentiated vocabularies, including personhood and self‐presentation, social memory‐making, group membership, kinship, cosmology, morality, ethics, ethnicity, and religion. Whereas historical smellscapes comprising odoriferous substances emanating from both places and bodies were considered a source of threat to sanitation, public hygiene, and morality, smell in the contemporary context is about simulation and imitation, manufactured to cater to consumerism. Studying and articulating smell experiences require innovative methodologies such as smellscape walkabouts and varying writing techniques in presenting olfactive and other sensory data.

show abstract

The Sociology of Odors

Cited by 122 publications

References 6 publications

Les catégories d'odeurs en sont-elles vraiment ?

Les catégories d'odeurs en sont-elles vraiment ?

Smell, Odor, and Somatic Work: Sense-Making and Sensory Management

Smell

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About