The Heady Highlands: Olfactory Impressions of the North
About the talk...
The subject of innumerable novels, poems and landscape paintings, the Scottish Highlands are no stranger to representation. That their stark beauty has also been frequently captured onscreen is also no surprise; we see lochs, bens and braes in sweeping vistas while babbling burns, eerie winds or faint, stereotypical bagpipes fill the soundtrack. But what of our other senses? In this presentation, Professor Davidson proposes that we turn our noses to the North and explore how scent can function as a marker of place in both metaphoric and literal terms. Through an examination of typical Highland notes and with particular attention to Jo Malone’s “The Highlands” collection of fragrances, we will consider what it means to invoke a space from an olfactory perspective while actively smelling the scents in question.
Note: This talk will feature active smelling; those with sensitivity to scents are advised.
About the speaker...
Bob Davidson, Mary Rowell Jackman Professor of Humanities at the University of Toronto’s Victoria College and faculty in the Dept. of Spanish & Portuguese, specializes in the study of food, drink, and hospitality. Author of Jazz Age Barcelona (shortlisted for the Canada Prize) and The Hotel: Occupied Space, his latest project, The Scent of Spain: Fragrance, Odour and Culture, looks at key fragrances and smells that were part of Spain’s modern experience. Prof. Davidson currently serves as Director of the Northrop Frye Centre and as Chair of the Manuscript Review Committee of University of Toronto Press. He takes his martini with a little extra vermouth and an olive.
This talk is generously sponsored by the Centre for Scottish Studies, University of Guelph.
