We like to talk about smell: A worldly take on language, sensory experience, and the Internet

Abstract

AbstractWestern languages have been marked by their lack of specialized vocabulary to express odor qualities, and thus it is stated that it is difficult – if not impossible – to talk about smell. To engage the issue of olfactory ineffability, this paper turns to actual instances of textual renderings of smell by paying attention to how the olfactory language of scent enthusiasts is rendered on the Internet. The methods that enthusiasts’ texts inscribe do not rely on specialized vocabulary but constitute a language that is