{"id":13865,"date":"2024-03-26T06:30:10","date_gmt":"2024-03-26T06:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/?p=13865"},"modified":"2024-03-26T09:47:40","modified_gmt":"2024-03-26T09:47:40","slug":"huang-xuelei-discusses-her-new-book-scents-of-china-a-modern-history-of-smell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/huang-xuelei-discusses-her-new-book-scents-of-china-a-modern-history-of-smell\/","title":{"rendered":"Huang Xuelei discusses her new book, Scents of China: A Modern History of Smell"},"content":{"rendered":"

Huang Xuelei, a senior lecturer of China Studies at Edinburgh University, recently published the book Scents of China: A Modern History of Smell<\/em> (Cambridge University Press), which tells the history of China through smell and scent. Here, she talks to CBBC\u2019s Antoaneta Becker<\/strong> about how Mao used smell to his advantage and the rise of the perfume market among China\u2019s Gen Z consumers.<\/p>\n

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How did you end up writing a book about scents?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

I read Alain Corbin\u2019s book [The Foul and the Fragrant: Odor and the French Social Imagination<\/em>] and thought it was something really fascinating. I was inspired. Before I started this project, I hadn\u2019t paid much attention to smells, but I was intrigued as to how smells triggered memories and emotions and engaged with historical events in modern China.<\/p>\n

Why do you think there has been such a surge in smell-related publications recently?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

When I started studying the subject 12 years ago, it wasn\u2019t a particularly popular subject. The study of sensory experiences and cultures started a few decades ago, but today this surge of smell studies is in part thanks to Covid-19. There is a strong correlation with people\u2019s experience of Covid as many people lost their sense of smell \u2013 including myself when I was writing this book \u2013 and we also felt isolated without much human contact and interaction. We suddenly came to know how it felt living in a world without smell and other sensory input from interacting with others.<\/p>\n

Why have there been so few publications on scent in China?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Sensory study is still quite Eurocentric, a Western-focused field that started in North America, and China has been a little bit slow in catching up. Chinese language publications so far are more focused on historical Chinese incense culture and are mainly descriptive. So I wouldn\u2019t say there aren\u2019t publications in China, they just have a different kind of approach and haven\u2019t reached an international readership.<\/p>\n