TamTalks

Aromas of Asia Book Talk

A uniquely powerful marker of ethnic, gender, and class identities, scent can also overwhelm previously constructed boundaries and transform social-sensory realities within contexts of environmental degradation, pathogen outbreaks, and racial politics. In this TamTalk, we will hear from Dr Gwyn McClelland, a Senior Lecturer in Japanese Studies who will discuss his recent (2023) co-edited book with Penn State University Press that critically examines olfaction in Asian societies with the goal of unlocking its full potential as an analytical frame and lived phenomenon. He will talk about durians and kopi, a Hong Kong movie, origins of discourse about smell in poetry and manuscripts, and contemporary discussions of aroma and odour out of Asia.