Smell of Slavery - Olfactory Racism and the Atlantic World

In the Atlantic World, different groups were aromatically classified in opposition to other ethnic, gendered, and class assemblies due to an economic necessity that needed certain bodies to be defined as excremental. African subjects were defined as scented objects, appropriated as filthy to create ownership through forceful sensory discourse.

List of contents

Introduction. Pecunia non olet; 1. The primal scene: ethnographic wonder and aromatic discourse; 2. Triangle trading on the pungency of race; 3. Ephemeral Africa: essentialized odors and the slave ship; 4. 'The sweet scent of vengeance': olfactory resistance in the Atlantic world; Conclusion. Race, nose, truth.

About the author

Andrew Kettler is an Ahmanson-Getty Fellow at the UCLA Center for 17th- and 18th-Century Studies at the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library.

Summary

In the Atlantic World, different groups were aromatically classified in opposition to other ethnic, gendered, and class assemblies due to an economic necessity that needed certain bodies to be defined as excremental. African subjects were defined as scented objects, appropriated as filthy to create ownership through forceful sensory discourse.

Product details

• Authors: Andrew Kettler, Andrew (University of California Kettler
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 08.12.2022
• EAN: 9781108796385
• ISBN: 978-1-108-79638-5
• No. of pages: 257
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Regional and national histories; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > Sociological theories; Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900, HISTORY / General, c 1500 onwards to present day, Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700, History of the Americas, The Americas, Slavery & abolition of slavery, Slavery and abolition of slavery