The Foul and the Fragrant: Odour and the Social Imagination Paperback – 23 August 1996
by
Alain Corbin
(Author)
Attempting to put the sense of smell on the historical map, the author of this book conveys the power that smells - from the seductress's civet to the ubiquitous excremental odours of city cesspools - exercized over the lives (and deaths) of Frenchmen in the 18th and 19th centuries. Integrating a range of disciplines - the histories of science and medicine, urban studies, public health, psychohistory, and literary criticism - the work lays bare the deeper implications of smell for science, society, and literature.
- Print length320 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication date23 August 1996
- ISBN-10033365658X
- ISBN-13978-0333656587
Product details
- Language : English
- Paperback : 320 pages
- ISBN-10 : 033365658X
- ISBN-13 : 978-0333656587
- Customer reviews:
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5 out of 5 stars
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Jon M. Sweeney
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the most interesting historians of our day
Reviewed in the United States on 7 May 2019Verified Purchase
Read Corbin if you want to understand history from the underside, from what's normally lost or ignored. This book is fascinating. But I suggest you start with "The Lure of the Sea."
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Bill Hudson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Understanding the Big Stink of Paris
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 December 2012Verified Purchase
As a `method` of outlining the social mores of smell in Paris, from before the Revolutionary period to the First World War, this book has no equal; surprising insights into class reactions and attitudes to smell are compared and contrasted. Deeper understanding of long-suspected national differences are brought to light.