Olfactory Glossary

Keywords/key concepts 

 

Porosity, trans-corporeality, embodied experience, inhalation, affective atmospheres, feminist new materialism, memory, tension, ephemerality​​

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Fragrance belongs to the material world yet smelling is an immaterial and embodied experience. It is in the space in-between. It is not separated from space or from our experience. How can one make sense of this abstract and complex sensory experience? Trans-corporeality, a concept introduced by Stacy Alaimo, aligns with the notion that human bodies are both porous and entangled with their environment or affective atmosphere, as described by Cecilia Macón. Atmospheres are not neutral but filled with tension and contain a duality: they are both experienced internally and externally, tangibly and intangibly, individually and collectively.

 

Fragrance tinctures the atmosphere and blurs the boundaries between body and environment, influencing human perception and mood. The body serves as a receptor, an instrument that detects atmospheres. Smell is like an invisible cloud that is inhaled and transforms the body into a porous, absorbing and living repository. This repository fills itself with experiences, memories, emotions, tensions and (situated) knowledge. 

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This phenomenon asks for a methodology that effectively translate the embodied experience of smelling into an increased awareness of affective atmospheres. Particularly, synaesthetic descriptions are being included in a glossary to enhance the cognitive understanding of olfactory perception as an embodied and affective experience.

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Methodology

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Step 1. Read various types of literature and find similarities and patterns in olfactory descriptions. 

 

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Step 2. Write them down and preferably elongate its definition instead of ruling anything out. Descriptions are only relevant if found across at least two different sources. If a description is mentioned once and its definition is vague, it is a weak match. Weak matches are included in a separate list for potential descriptors, but they will be included to the glossary if found amongst other sources with similar descriptions. Any visitor of this webpage is allowed to suggest a description or extend the list. 

 

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Step 3. Distil solely the descriptions that are borrowed words from human senses (taste, touch, sight, hearing and smell). The definitions, however, can be as broad as necessary. 

 

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Step 4. The descriptors that have strong similarities and/or patterns will be included into a glossary that serves as a tool for defining olfactory, embodied experiences.

 

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Step 5. Search for literature or texts that mention olfactory descriptors which enhances the understanding of olfactory perception and places it in a social context. See the glossary for various examples.

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Step 6. Combine descriptors and connect them to specific smells (e.g. citrusy, bright and zesty = lemon).

 

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Step 7. You can now make use of the glossary in real-life to create heightened awareness of ephemeral, affective atmospheres.