Smell as an atmospheric medium. Perfume, imagination and the affective construction of social space
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.13129/2281-8138/2026.1.133-152Keywords:
Affective Atmospheres, Olfaction, Social Imaginary, Sociology Of The Senses, Quasi-ThingsAbstract
This article explores the role of olfaction as an atmospheric medium in the formation of collective imaginaries. Drawing on the convergence of smell studies, the sociology of emotions, and atmosphere theory, the paper proposes a reading of olfactory experience as an affective force capable of transforming topological space into experiential space, contributing to the production of socially shared atmospheres. The analysis unfolds along three lines: a critique of the oculocentric paradigm in sociological modernity and the recovery of proximity senses; the atmospheric function of perfume in the sacred and ritual domain, where it operates as a generator of collective effervescence and a producer of symbolic imaginaries structured along archetypal polarities; the mnemonic and affective potency of smell, revealing the deep nexus between sensory perception, embodied memory, and the social construction of meaning.
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