Call for Papers
The Poetics of Olfaction, 1500–1800
Leiden University, 28–29 January 2026
Organizers
Jan van Dijkhuizen (Leiden University)
Inger Leemans (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam / KNAW)
What does it mean to perceive smell? This question fascinated literary writers of the early modern period (1500–1800): their work abounds in references to and evocations of smell sensation and of specific scents. This conference will examine the richly variegated ways in which early modern writers put the language of smell – or olfaction – to literary use. We refer to this as the ‘poetics of olfaction’: in what ways, and to what ends, did authors evoke smell sensations?
We welcome proposals for papers on any aspect of smell in the literatures of early modern Europe. We employ the term ‘literature’ in a capacious sense, to include drama and poetry in their various manifestations, but also, for example, emblem books, devotional and other religious literature, ego documents, prose fiction and travel literature. We specifically invite participants to address the following topics:
- What do early modern writers understand to be the specific characteristics of olfaction as a perceptual mode, and in what ways do they make use of these?
- What specific smells do early modern writers present as particularly significant, and why?
- What specific affordances for examining olfaction do literary texts (as opposed to other textual modes or other media) offer?
- How can modern philosophical and neuroscientific insights into olfaction be brought to bear on early modern literature?
- How can early modern literary understandings of olfaction be brought to bear on modern philosophical and neuroscientific debates about olfaction?
- What broader relevance does the study of smell in early modern literature have for the cultural history of the senses?
- What would an olfactory literary theory look (or smell) like? What theoretical model does an analysis of olfaction in early modern literature require?
- How could the study of olfaction in early modern literature make us rethink (early modern) literary studies, and (early modern) cultural history, more broadly?
In addition to the conference presentations, the programme will feature a smell training session on the basis of smells discussed in the presentations, so as to enhance our collective nose wisdom. We also aim to explore how the study of smell might offer new concepts and approaches for cultural history more broadly. The conference will therefore end with a plenary discussion on this topic. The outcomes of this discussion will serve as a basis for grant applications for future collaborative research projects.
The deadline for submitting paper proposals is 1 May 2025. Your proposal should contain the following:
- Title
- Your name and institutional affiliation
- Approximately 300-word abstract (excluding references)
- Three to five keywords
- List of specific smells discussed in your presentation (if applicable).
Please send your proposal as a pdf file to Jan van Dijkhuizen at [email protected]. Notifications of acceptance will be sent no later than 1 June.
We provide accommodation for three nights, as well as lunch and dinner during the two conference days. Travel expenses will be covered insofar as the project budget allows; we will contact speakers about this after 1 June. Do not hesitate to contact Jan van Dijkhuizen with any questions you might have.
This conference is part of an Open Competition research project on ‘The Poetics of Olfaction in Early Modernity’ (poem), funded by the Dutch Research Council (nwo).