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Volume 1, Issue 1
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Abstract

Scholars have recently begun to turn their attention to the study of sensory perceptions, however to date their focus has overwhelmingly been on sight and sound: this is perhaps understandable, given the cultural importance of art, film and music. Crucially they are the sensations that can most easily and accurately be captured and arguably are more easily framed and described in most languages than are the sensations from smell, taste and touch. Yet smell is a crucial sense, and within this scent and fragrance are a core and universal feature of human cultures and activities. For as long as records have existed, there is plentiful evidence of scent being used in personal hygiene, mate attraction, religious ceremonies, life events, as a food additive and in a range of other social practices. The Middle East, and the Gulf more specifically, figures prominently in this history, extending to the present day, where scents and perfumes play prominent cultural and social roles and where there is a strong perfume industry with its own traditions and a growing global reach. This article is an initial scoping study and literature review of scent and perfume in the Gulf, seeking to begin a redress of the traditional neglect of the topic. It offers a case for much greater scholarly attention on the topic, given how scent and perfume connect to so many disciplines and fields within Gulf studies: history, sociology, anthropology, political science and other disciplines all stand to gain from more attention on the role and uses of fragrances in the Gulf, as do more specific interdisciplinary studies in areas such as identity, cosmopolitanism, sexuality, social class and others. While the article is necessarily cursory given the breadth of its scope, the intention is to identify an area of research currently underexamined, spark greater scholarly discussion and ultimately to trigger future research on an important aspect of the contemporary Gulf.

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2024-01-03
2024-05-02
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  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): Arab culture; fragrance; Gulf studies; perfume; political economy; scent
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