Fragrant Musings: Perfumes and Femininity in Western Representations of the Orient

Abstract This paper explores the relation between female sensuality and the Orient between the 18th and the 20th century from an olfactory perspective. Taking literature, poetry and perfumery as its focus, it shows that olfactory representations of the Orient do not merely reflect the dogma of imperialist society as argued by Said (2003), but that they form a historical trait d'union between Western nations and the Orient, as well as representing a sublime alternative to modern Western ennui