10 5 © aut hor/aut horsht t ps://doi .org /10. 26493/2350-54 43.12(2)105-118 Recenzija knjige Mojce Ramšak Antropologija vonja Alenka Janko Spreizer Univerza na Primorskem, Slovenija alenka.janko.spreizer@fhs.upr.si Od čutnega obrata v antropologiji v 80. letih 20. stoletja je preteklo precej časa, preden smo v slovenski etnolo- giji in/ali kulturni antropologiji dobili obsežen in poglobljen prvenec, znanstveno monografijo, ki sistematično in primerjalno obravnava druž- beno-kulturne vidike in pomene vonja ter spo- sobnosti vohanja. Dr. Mojca Ramšak, redna pro- fesorica kulturne antropologije na Univerzi v Ljubljani in na Alma Mater Europaea – Institu- tum Studiorum Humanitatis, je tematiko razi- skovala že med pandemijo covida-19, svojo znan- stveno monografijo pa je objavila letos (2024). Številni ljudje s(m)o se po preboleli novi korona- bolezni soočili z bolj ali manj začasno oz. s trajno izgubo sposobnosti zaznavanja vonja, spremenje- nim vohom, z vohalnimi halucinacijami oz. za- znavami vonja, ki ga ni v zraku, ipd. Čeprav so se prve raziskave vonja v slovenskem nacionalnem prostoru začele že leta 2019, gotovo ni naklju- čje, da je vzniknilo širše zanimanje za senzorične raziskave v zvezi z vonjem, med pandemijo in še po njej, ko so se razmahnile raziskave vonja tudi v povezavi z mednarodnimi okviri, npr. v projek- tih Odeuropa, Horizon 2021–2023 ter Odothe- ka 2021–2024. Morda je k poznejši obravnavi vonja in vo- halnih sposobnosti v medkulturni perspektivi v slovenskem nacionalnem prostoru (v primerjal- ni perspektivi z drugimi čutnimi kulturno pogo- jenimi zaznavami vida, zvoka, dotika in okusa) kot tudi drugod prav tako prispevalo dejstvo, da v t. i. »zahodni« kulturi vonj in vohalne spret- nosti ne kotirajo visoko na lestvici čutnega za- znavanja. Družbeno okolje, v katerem živimo ljudje, namreč definira pomembnost in hierar- hizacijo čutov, kar je povezano s preživetveni- mi strategijami. Razvijanje senzorične sposob- nosti in občutljivosti za vonjave ter pripisovanje posebne (manj)vrednosti vonju je prav tako po- membno povezano z dimenzijami družbenega okolja. Prav glede vohalnega vidika čutnega za- znavanja naravnega in kulturnega okolja smo ljudje, socializirani v kulturno normo t. i. zahod- ne evropske družbe, ki narekuje molk oz. prezi- ranje vonjav, prepoznanih za neugodne. Ob tem velja tudi, da prijetnih in diskretno prisotnih vo- njav mnogokrat niti ne zaznavamo, kar izrablja- jo, denimo, strategije trženja vonjav. Estetsko opremljena knjiga, ki je prijetna tudi na oko, je zasnovana iz predgovora – prvega vdiha, uvoda – globljega vdiha ter desetih osred- njih poglavij. Jedrna poglavja zajemajo meto- dološki oris antropologije vonja ter vohalne de- diščine, jezikovne dimenzije ideje vonja, vonj v medicini, olfaktorni imaginarij, poleg kultivira- nja voha v literaturi in kultiviranja miazem ter arom. Osrednji del knjige obravnava pravne re- gulacije vonjav v okviru nacionalne države Slo- venije in Evropske unije, ki zajema zakonodajno ureditev (delovnega ) okolja, živil, pijač, tobaka ter parfumov, pri čemer izpostavi tudi pravne praznine, ki omogočajo trženje z neoriginalni- mi dišavami prav zaradi pravne praznine. Glav- na poglavja Antropologije vonja zajemajo tudi obravnavo vonja pri trženju, v spolnosti in eroti- ki ter v kulturni dediščini in muzeologiji. Knji- ga se sklene z zaključkom oz. zadnjim izdihom. Vsebino knjige dopolnjujejo številne pregledni- ce, shematski prikazi tipologij in konceptualiza- cij vonja ter fotografije številnih upodobitev vo- nja in vohalnih zmožnosti, npr. v kiparstvu in likovni umetnosti, poleg materialnih predme- tov iz kulturne dediščine. Monografija je oprem- ljena tudi z obsežnim stvarnim kazalom ter s seznamom virov in literature, ki bralcem omo- gočata še podrobnejši pregled posameznih vidi- kov obravnave olfaktorne tematike. st u d ia u n iv er si ta t is h er ed it a t i, le t n ik 12 (2 02 4) , š t ev il k a 2 / v o lu m e 12 (2 02 4) , n u m be r 2 10 6 Posebno pozornost antropološkega branja pričujoče knjige nedvomno pritegne njena epis- temološka plat, kjer sta predstavljena antropolo- gija čutov in njen raziskovalni domet, ki zajema preučevanje fizičnih in kulturnih vidikov vo- nja ter vlogo vonja v senzoriju, sistemu vseh pe- tih človekovih čutil. Antropologija čutov nam- reč preučuje zgodovinsko-kulturno specifične in kontekstualne dimenzije čutnih zaznav, ki so pomembno povezane s spomini, čustvi, z izkuš- njami in s kognicijo. V knjigi se avtorica ukvar- ja z nevrofiziološko dimenzijo vohanja in vo- nja. Posveča se miselnim konceptom različnih čutnih redov različnih kultur in pomenom ču- tov v vsakdanjem življenju. Knjiga izpostavlja kulturno specifične variacije čutov in čutenja, kot npr. izrazito kulturno specifičen primer ma- lezijskega lovsko-nabiralniškega ljudstva Batek Negrito, ki v svoji kozmologiji sveta vsemu pri- pisuje vonj, tudi nebesnim telesom, npr. neprije- ten meseni vonj soncu in prijeten rožni vonj luni. Miselni koncepti se posvečajo tudi delitvam gle- de na spol: npr., na Papi Novi Gvineji je notra- njost žensk konceptualizirana kot temna, sočna, smrdljiva, medtem ko je notranjost moških bela, trda in brez vonja. Percepcija vonjav, ki se glede na olfaktorni imaginarij pripisujejo ženskam, je odvisna od moči, ki je dodeljena ženski v do- ločeni družbi. Za številne raziskane skupnosti, kjer nad ženskami dominirajo, imamo izsledke o predstavljanju ženske, povezane s slabim vonjem. Slab vonj je povezan z njeno moralo, s »pred- zakonsko nedotaknjenostjo« oz. z »življenjem na koruzi« in s tem pripisano le njeno moralno izprijenostjo ipd. Spolna dihotomija vonjav med moškimi in ženskami odraža družbeno moč enih ter drugih in jim pripisuje vonjave z nega- tivnim ali s pozitivnim označevanjem. Za antropološko epistemologijo so po- membni tudi opisi izsledkov poglavitnih razi- skav kulturnih vonjav v globalnem okviru ter razgrnitev fragmentarnih in parcialnih omemb vonjev v slovenski etnologiji, kulturni antropo- logiji ter kulturni zgodovini. Znanstvena mono- grafija Antropologija vonja se tako osredinja na (a) antropološke predstavitve lingvistično-se- miotičnih analiz vohalnih pojmov; (b) antro- pološke komparacije različnih kulturnih pome- nov vonja v posameznih kulturah in družbah; (c) obravnavanje (spolnega) vedenja in (religio- znih) ritualov, pri katerih ima vonj pomembno vlogo; (č) vlogo manipulacije z ambientalnimi vonjavami v potrošniških družbah ter (d) mož- nosti manipulacije z vonjavami pri predstavlja- nju kulturne dediščine v muzeološki praksi, pri razstavljenih galerijskih in muzejskih artefaktih ter pri performansih. Znanstvena monografija prinaša tudi iz- sledke glavnih raziskav o kulturi vonjav, med ka- terimi omembe fizičnih in čutnih značilnosti preučevanih ljudstev izven Evrope v 19. in 20. sto- letju odstirajo vpogled v kolonialno večvrednost Evropejcev, rasiziranje ljudstev, ki so jim psev- doznanstveniki pripisovali intelektualno inferi- ornost in ki so jih uvrščali v različne rasne tipo- logije, povezane z večjo sposobnostjo zaznavanja vonjav, kar je prestavljalo poseben vidik domnev- ne duševne degeneracije. Seveda so te posplošit- ve veljale tudi za nižje družbene sloje v evropskih družbah. Nedvomno so omenjene raziskave o di- menzijah moči izjemnega pomena za raziskova- nje širokega nabora čutnih domen in odsevajo določeno medkulturno senzorno simboliko. Knjiga prinaša tudi analitično-deskriptiv- ni pregled zgodnjih terenskih raziskav moderne kulturne in socialne antropologije. Zgodnja an- tropološka dela med drugim zajemajo tudi par- cialne opise vonjalnih zaznav med terenskim de- lom. Franz Boas (2009), ki je bil na terenu na Baffinovem otoku pri Inuitih, npr. opisuje vonj medvedje maščobe, uporabljene za impregnaci- jo šotorov; Bronisław Malinowski (1932) se je v antropoloških raziskavah, opravljenih na Tro- briandskih otokih, posvetil obravnavanju vonja pri telesni privlačnosti in odbojnosti v spolnem življenju »divjakov«, njihove vonjalne magije pred poroko ter vonja v povezavi s čarovništvom in čarovnicami. Tudi poznejši antropologi so se občasno posvečali opisom vonjev. Npr., Clau- de Lévi-Strauss je dokumentiral vonjalne vidike svojih terenskih izkušenj v Braziliji. V »potopi- su« Tristes tropiques (1955) je med drugim opisal 10 7 R ec en z ij a k n ji g e M o jc e R a m ša k A n tr o po lo g ij a vo n ja neprijetne vonjave živil in ladje, s katero je plul. Poleg tega je tudi v knjigi Le cru et le cuit (1964) obravnaval pomen vonja in drugih čutov, npr. obravnavo vonja v mitih, kontraste vonjev med neprijetnimi in prijetnimi, med vonjem po raz- padu in vonjem, ki je veljal za dobrega. Antropologe so zanimali sociokulturni po- meni vonjav in vprašanje, kako človek voha v fi- ziološkem ter nevrološkem pomenu, v povezavi z vplivom kulture pri tovrstnih zaznavah: kako kultura vpliva na to, da nekaj človek zazna in zaznanemu pripiše pozitivno oz. negativno vo- njalno izkušnjo. Knjiga Mojce Ramšak oriše kulturnozgodovinske raziskave, povezane s te- lesno higieno, razsmrajevanjem oz. dezodoraci- jo okolja. Posveča se tudi medkulturnim primer- javam simbolnih pomenov čutnih zaznav arome ter nizanju preglednih zgodovin čutnih zaznav, zbornikov, ki so pomembni za kulturno obrav- navo in razumevanja vonja ter poznavanje zgo- dovine posameznih vonjav, kot je npr. biografija parfumov, ki je odražala blokovsko delitev sveta med t. i. hladno vojno. V preglednem poglavju raziskav o vonju se avtorica posveti podrobnemu branju polihistor- ja Janeza Vajkarda Valvasorja (2017) in njegovega dela Slava vojvodine Kranjske, ki lahko predsta- vlja spoznavno orodje za domnevanje vpraša- nja obravnavanje vonja v 17. stoletju, saj so v nje- govem delu izpostavljene posebne vonjave: vonj cvetic, zdravilnih zelišč, vonj hrane in pijače, ku- tinovega sira, usmrajenega vina, tudi vonjave ma- terialnega sveta, npr. industrijskega sveta, kot je npr. kamšt, neprimernega nekrepostnega in kre- postnega življenja. Valvasor je npr. opisoval vo- njave ljudi in se posvečal percepcijam vonja, ki jih je pobral iz drugih virov, pri čemer je kritizi- ral primerjavo moralnih in vonjalnih modalitet (npr. primerjava moralne sprevrženosti in slabih vonjav, značilnih za nemoralnost). Konceptu- aliziral je tudi odvračanje ljudi s slabimi vonja- vami ob etnografskem opisu varovalnega noše- nja smrdljivega kokošjega mesa med nedrjem pri mladih furlanskih ženskah, s pomočjo katerega so odvračale avarske zavojevalce. Tudi pregledno branje etnoloških in kulturnozgodovinskih del, ki opisujejo prakse, navade, rituale in ohranja- nje spominov s pomočjo vonjav, prinaša vpogled v olfaktorne dimenzije na Slovenskem, četudi so vonjave v teh praksah omenjane zgolj fragmen- tarno, a vendar zato nič manj pomembno, saj predstavljajo izhodišča za poglobljenejši pristop k obravnavi vonja. Velika znanstvena vrednost je v nazorno predstavljeni metodologiji raziskav voha in vo- nja ter z njim povezane kulturne dediščine (mu- zejskega konzervatorstva, vonjalne rekonstrukci- je in poustvaritve, vonjalne scensko-ambientalne ter umetniške (preoblikovane) vonjalne predsta- vitve). Poleg klasičnih terenskih in kabinetnih metod kulturne ter socialne antropologije so iz- postavljene še inovativne tehnike, kot so npr. vo- njalna etnografija kot del senzornih etnografij, čutenje z udeležbo, uporaba in kreiranje vonjal- nih zemljevidov, oblikovanih s pomočjo vonjal- nih sprehodov, krožni vonjalni grafikoni ter metode merjenja z različnimi merilnimi pripo- močki, kot so olfaktometri, vohalne kamere ter e-nosovi. Posebej prepričljiva je v predgovoru na- zorno predstavljena avtobiografska metoda, ki ima drugod v evropskem prostoru prepoznan ve- lik epistemološki potencial, a je med etnologi, socialnimi in kulturnimi antropologi slovenske- ga nacionalnega prostora zapostavljena in manj prakticirana, poleg tega imajo nekateri antropo- logi do njene uporabe tudi zadržke/predsodke zaradi domnevne subjektivnosti. V Antropolo- giji vonja najdemo podroben opis metodologije preučevanja vonjav, povzete po Davidu Howesu (1991) ter Davidu Howesu in Constance Classen (2014), ki je lahko tudi odličen vir metodološke- ga usposabljanja na področju senzorne antropo- logije za (bodoče) antropologe ter muzealce, in predstavitev sistemov razvrščanja vonjav v nara- voslovju, psihologiji in antropologiji, za katere najdemo tudi vizualne shematske prikaze, ki jih je izdelala avtorica. Poleg avtobiografskih in antropoloških ter kulturnozgodovinskih vonjalnih zaznav se avto- rica podrobneje posveti tudi v jezik vpisani idej- ni predstavitvi vonja in njegovemu ubesedenju, ki nastaja v interakciji voha ter jezikovnega siste- st u d ia u n iv er si ta t is h er ed it a t i, le t n ik 12 (2 02 4) , š t ev il k a 2 / v o lu m e 12 (2 02 4) , n u m be r 2 10 8 ma. Monografija razgrne sodobnejše raziskave v medkulturni primerjavi in v kulturnospecifičnih kontekstih, nevrokognitivne mehanizme (od za- znave vonja do leksikalno-semantične integracije in ubeseditve) in procese v vonjalni socializaciji ter vonjalno terminologijo v sinhroni ter diahro- ni perspektivi. Ob tem pomembno vlogo igra- jo tudi druga opisana nejezikovna kulturno po- sredovana komunikacijska orodja, npr. obrazna mimika, gestikulacija, in piktogramska upo- dobitev. Pozornost je posvečena tudi preučeva- nju vonjalnega izrazoslovja in kulturno-jezikov- nim značilnostim vonjalnih besednjakov, zlasti še simbolno-pomenskim dimenzijam vonjav, ki se izrisujejo v metaforah, uporabljenih v različ- nih vrstah diskurzov, npr. povezanih s spoznav- no dimenzijo in priklicem spominov na vsakda- nje življenje ter njegove ritualne ritme. Posebna zanimivost zanimivost v knjigi so konceptualne metafore vonja in večpomenskost vonjalnih izra- zov. Avtorica naniza primere rab konceptualnih metafor, npr. »vonj je zasledovalec«, »vonj je zrak«, »vonj je vseživljenjski dogodek«, »vonj je arhitektura«, »vonj je predmet«, »vonj je agre- sor«, povezan s »sumničenjem«, a tudi »zaščit- nik«; raziskovanje in odkrivanje je prav tako me- taforično povezano z vonjem. Mojca Ramšak predoči interakcijo med vo- hom in jezikovnim sistemom, a tudi pomen- ske dimenzije dobrih in slabih vonjav, ki so po- vezane s figurativnimi rabami in naslovljene na manjvredne etnično razločene (družbene) sku- pine, ki so tarča vonjalne mizoginije, vonjal- nega rasizma in vonjalne ksenofobije. Avtorica predstavi olfaktorni imaginarij v Svetem pismu in Visoki pesmi, ki ju vzame kot vir kulturolo- ških analiz rabe posameznih predmetov pri sve- tih ritualih in rabe vonjav mire, aloje ter kadilov- ca kot kulturne dišave. V nadaljevanju predstavi še olfaktorni imaginarij v zvezi z izbranimi druž- benimi skupinami, zasužnjenimi Afričani, tem- nopoltimi ženskami in ameriškimi staroselci – »Indijanci«, ki ga povezuje s kolonializmom in z rasizmom kapitalističnih zavojevalcev ter s kul- turnozgodovinskim pojmovanjem vonjav teda- njega časa, s katerimi se povezuje npr. tudi Rome in Jude. Knjiga večkrat izpostavi evrocentrič- no načelo pri opisovanju olfaktornih imaginari- jev, vendar pogrešamo konceptualizacije iz pod- disciplin oz. specializacij, kot so antropologija etničnosti, postkolonialna antropologija, rom- ske in judovske študije, ter upoštevanje nekate- rih njihovih izsledkov. Pri poglavjih, ki obrav- navajo »družbene skupne«, bi knjiga bistveno več pridobila, če bi se naslonila na poglobljenej- šo in kompleksnejšo obravnavo postkolonialnih antropoloških perspektiv pri obravnavi rasiz- ma do temnopoltih žensk, moških (»Črncev«) in ameriških staroselcev ter drugih domorod- cev; anticiganizma v odnosu do Romov (Agarin 2014; Cortés Goméz in End 2019; Janko Sprei- zer 2022); antisemitizma v odnosu do Judov; štu- dij spolov in feministične antropologije za refle- ksijo mizoginije. Vprašanjem kolonializma ter razvijajočega se kapitalizma v 18. in 19. stoletju se moramo v Sloveniji antropologi bistveno kon- cizneje posvetiti, saj so tovrstne razprave pogos- to še vedno zapisane s perspektive, ki je premalo občutljiva za rasiziranje ter brutalno kapitalistič- no izkoriščanje zahodnih družb, iz katerega tudi ta del sveta ni bil izvzet. Upamo lahko, da bodo v prihodnosti antropologi upoštevali, da je bilo današnje ozemlje Slovenije vključeno v imperial- no zgodovino, če se bodo poglobljeneje ukvarjali z vonjalnim rasizmom. Knjiga se sistematično loteva pregledne zgo- dovine medicinsko-filozofskih razlag vonja in prinaša izsledke prvih piscev ter klasičnih zdrav- nikov – filozofov, kot so npr. Galen iz Pergama, Celz in Dioskurid, ki so slabe telesne vonjave pri- pisovali boleznim in njihovim simptomom. Po- leg misli grških filozofov in zgodnjih zdravni- kov iz antike sta orisani tudi konceptualizacija vonjav, relevantnih za medicino v zgodnji islam- ski in evropski medicini, ter zdravstveno-medi- cinska diagnostika iz drugih kultur v diahroni perspektivi. Za humanistiko je posebej zanimiva obravnava vonja v filozofski misli oz. konceptu- alna zasnova filozofije vonja. Posebej velja izpo- staviti tudi poglavje o sodobni medicinski dia- gnostiki. Bralci dobimo vpogled v razvijajoče se postopke diagnosticiranja s pomočjo novih elek- 10 9 tronskih zaznavalnih naprav vonja in okusa, kot je npr. e-nos, in s pomočjo živali, kar je razmero- ma neznano polje. V medicini pri diagnosticira- nju bolezenskih stanj sodelujejo posebej streni- rani psi pomočniki, ki lahko pri ljudeh zavohajo specifične bolezni in zdravstvene anomalije, npr. padec sladkorja pri diabetikih, bližajoči se epi- leptični napad, pomagajo lahko tudi pri diagno- sticiranju rakavih obolenj, bližajoče se Alzhei- merjeve bolezni ipd. Nedvomno to poglavje odpira pomembno vprašanje za preučevanje od- nosa ljudi in živali, s katerim se je od nedavne- ga začela ukvarjati etnografija mnogoterih vrst. Delo Mojce Ramšak prinaša pomemben uvid tudi v učenje olfaktornega imaginarija oz. socializacijo vohanja od zgodnjega otroštva nap- rej. Ena izmed navedenih raziskav je npr. poka- zala, da imajo otroci v vrtcu sposobnost razlo- čevanja posameznih vonjav, vendar slednjim ne znajo pripisati vrednostnega predznaka, pač pa jih povezujejo z znanimi ali neznanimi kulturni- mi praksami, značilnimi za domača okolja. Po- sebno epistemološko vrednost pri uvidu v soci- alizacijo vohanja in vonja imajo pričevanja oz. mitologije o t. i. »divjih« ali »volčjih otrocih«. Pričanja o divjih živalih, ki naj bi vzgojile otro- ke, govorijo o tem, da ti otroci niso imeli civili- zacijskih navad in jih tudi ob prisotnosti reso- cializacije v družbenem okolju ljudi niso mogli v popolnosti razviti. Naveden je npr. primer iz Nürnberga v 19. stoletju, zapuščenega in zapr- tega ter od socialnih stikov izoliranega Kasper- ja Hauserja, ki mu je bilo nemogoče privzgojiti prehrambne režime družbenega okolja, v katere- ga so ga poskušali resocializirati potem, ko je bil najden. Njegova sposobnost za razvijanje učlo- večenih čutov se ni mogla razviti, saj so bili čuti voha in vida atrofirani. Za literarne študije je posebej pomembno poglavje o kultiviranju voha v literaturi, pri če- mer avtorica za spoznavni vir pri obravnavanju antropoloških tematik, kot so divjaki nasproti civiliziranim, vpliv vonja na spomin ter razred- na razmerja, vzame tri kultne romane, tj. Par- fum Patricka Süskinda (1986), V Swanovem svetu Marcela Prousta (2003) in Pot v Wigan Georgea Orwella (1937). Knjiga se posveča tudi produkciji dišav, pri- vabljanju ljudi z vonjem ter komercializaciji vo- njav. Preko kulturnozgodovinske obravnave po- kaže, da je uporaba dišav in mazil prisotna tudi pri starih civilizacijah; pri Egipčanih naj bi npr. Kleopatra dišala pikantno sladko, domnevno po datljih in začimbah. Prelomno za rabo dišav z namenom privabljanja drugih datira v 19. stole- tje, ko si ljudje želijo dišati drugim, kar sovpada z industrijsko proizvodnjo dišav in načrtnim hote- njem po razsmrajevanju okolja ter ljudi. Predsta- vljene so tudi raziskave o prekrivanju in odvra- čanju neprijetnih vonjav ljudi, v času, ko npr. v neurbaniziranih okoljih ni bilo osnovne komu- nalne infrastrukture, ki bi omogočala vzdrže- vanje osebne higiene z umivanjem in s tem tudi odvračanje telesnih neprijetnih vonjav. Prav tako se je razvijala erotična vonjalna kultura in upora- ba dišav za ta namen. S sklicevanjem na dobre vonjave, npr. diša- nje po morju, se trži določene razstave v muzejih ali turistične kraje preko kulinarike, navezujoč se na naravne vidike morske krajine, npr. morje, vonj po soli, ali prehrambene navade oz. specifič- ne jedi, kot so npr. ribe, školjke. Tudi veliki nakupovalni centri na potroš- nike želijo vplivati s pomočjo vonjav in v svojih prostorih uporabljajo razpršilce, in to ne le v toa- letnih, kjer se načrtno prikriva vonjave s pomočjo sintetičnih toaletnih vonjav, pač pa tudi drugod. Ambientalni sintetični vonji sovpadajo z letnimi časi ter s prazniki, ob katerih se z vonji spodbu- ja potrošniške prakse, ki sovpadajo z določenimi dogodki. Sintetične in skorajda nezaznavne vo- njave se skladajo z različnimi prazničnimi časi, v katerih sicer prevladujejo kulinarične ali naravne vonjave. Z odišavljanjem prostorov skozi razpr- ševalce vonjav ob vhodnih vratih v nakupovalne centre, npr. s pršenjem vonja po kuhanem vinu in praznični hrani v prednovoletnem času, želijo potrošnike zadržati v prostorih in jih spodbudi- ti k nakupovanju. S pomočjo trženja in uporabe sintetičnih vonjav nam npr. tudi v muzejih želijo omogočiti podoživetje rabe razstavljenih pred- R ec en z ij a k n ji g e M o jc e R a m ša k A n tr o po lo g ij a vo n ja st u d ia u n iv er si ta t is h er ed it a t i, le t n ik 12 (2 02 4) , š t ev il k a 2 / v o lu m e 12 (2 02 4) , n u m be r 2 110 metov, med katerimi so nekateri, povezani tudi s prtljago osebnih spominov ali pridruženi kul- turnim spominom okolja, v katerem živimo. Avtorica je tudi sama opravila nekatere manjše raziskave, z namenom preverjanja izsled- kov sodobnih raziskav o zaznavah vonja. Razi- skovala je rabe vonjev za namen trženja v speci- fičnih slovenskih prostorih – npr. čajnicah, kjer se uporablja vonj vanilije, šolah, kjer naj bi vonj mandarine prispeval k zbranosti, mirnosti in dobremu počutju šolarjev, tako da želijo z njim vplivati na boljšo koncentracijo pri učenju, kar je izvajala ena od šol na Primorskem. Nekatere hotelske in zdraviliščne verige uporabljajo sinte- tične ambientalne vonjave, ki naj bi bile njihov razpoznavni znak in jih specializirana podjetja proizvajajo le za njih. Mojca Ramšak svojo pionirsko znanstveno monografijo Antropologija vonja sklene s poglav- jem o vonju in kulturni dediščini, ki oriše njene pomembne raziskave na omenjenem področju. Poglavje zajema poglobljeno analizo mednarod- nih in domačih dokumentov, ki pravno ureja- jo kulturno dediščino ter z vonji povezane re- gistrirane znanje in prakse. Avtorica analitično povzame pravne dokumente o zaščiti vohalne kulturne dediščine, ki datirajo v konec 20. in za- četek 21. stoletja ter urejajo kulturni pomen vo- nja in vonj kot del nesnovne kulturne dedišči- ne. Šele leta 2021 je bil sprejet francoski zakon o čutni dediščini, medtem ko se v Unescovi Kon- venciji o varovanju nesnovne kulturne dedišči- ne iz leta 2023 vonj ne omenja neposredno, pač pa ta konvencija omogoča zaščito znanj in praks, povezanih z vonjavami. Na tej pravni podla- gi so tako šele leta 2018 na Reprezentativni se- znam nesnovne kulturne dediščine vpisali zna- nje in prakse, povezane s proizvodnjo parfuma v francoski regiji Grasse, in sicer pod ključnim iza- zom »senzorični sistemi«. Po tem letu, ko se vo- njave in znanje ter prakse, povezane s tem vidi- kom senzorija, prepoznani kot pomembni vidik nesnovne kulturne dediščine, se začne večje pri- zadevanje za zaščito lokalnih vonjav preko Unes- ca. Avtorica predstavi Unescov seznam nesnovne dediščine človeštva, ki vsebuje nominacije za vpis na Unescov seznam, z eksplicitnimi opisi vonjav in arom v utemeljitvenem delu ter ključnih be- sedah. Do leta 2024 je omembo vonja vsebovalo 12 nominacij, med katerimi je zaščiteno tudi če- belarstvo v Sloveniji, ki eksplicitno omenja vonj. Prav tako omenjeni razdelek knjige na enciklo- pedičen način predstavlja raziskovanje in ukvar- janje z vonji v muzejih, galerijah ter knjižnicah in koncipira polje olfaktorne muzeologije, vključ- no z njeno specifično terminologijo. To poglav- je bo nedvomno zanimivo za študente kulturne dediščine in za bodoče eksperte, ki jih zanima muzeologija, ter za kustose, ki se želijo podrob- neje posvetiti prikazovanju in analizi vonjav ter z vonji povezanih kulturnih praks. V nadaljeva- nju poglavja avtorica komparativno pregleda ol- faktorno muzeologijo v mednarodnem okviru in Sloveniji. Predstavi rezultate zbranih podat- kov, pridobljenih v slovenskih muzejih med le- toma 2021 in 2023, v zvezi s prisotnostjo vonjav in z zavedanjem vonjav, povezanih s specifičnimi razstavnimi muzejskimi predmeti ter z razstav- nim in pedagoškim delom kustosov. Zanimivo je, da so muzeji, ki so posredovali podatke v raz- iskavi (od 59 povabljenih je sodelovalo 49 muze- alcev iz 29 slovenskih muzejev) po oceni avtori- ce leta 2023 hranili več sto vohalnih predmetov. Avtorica je pridobila tudi natančne opise vohal- nih predmetov, prostorov z vonjem ter snovi in bitij, ki oddajajo vonj, na podlagi česar je izde- lala naslednjo tipologijo: vohalni muzejski pred- meti iz slovenskih muzejev, notranji in zunanji muzejski prostori, povezani z vonjem, pisni do- kumenti, ki opisujejo vonjave, pripovedi o vonja- vah iz preteklih razstav oz. zgodbe kustosov in dišeči, z dediščino povezani predmeti iz muzej- skih trgovin. Znanstvena monografija Mojce Ramšak je prvenec na področju antropologije, ki se ukvar- ja z zaznavami vonja v etnološki, kulturnoantro- pološki perspektivi na holističen in primerjalen način. Ne le da etnologinja in kulturna antro- pologinja celovito zajame obravnavo vonja pre- ko pregleda antropoloških raziskav, ki se ukvar- jajo z vonjem kot specifičnim senzorijem, pač pa analitični pregled v nekaterih poglavjih bolj ali 111 manj poglobljeno dopolni z lastnimi vonjalno- -etnografsko-antropološkimi raziskavami. Če sklenem: knjigo vsekakor priporočam tako šir- ši javnosti, ki jo zanima vpogled v antropolo- ško obravnavo vonja, kakor tudi antropologom, etnologom ter muzealcem – specialistom za kul- turno dediščino, ki lahko svojo antropološko te- orijo in prakso pomembno dopolnijo z obravna- vo občutka voha, za katerega smo šele ob njegovi začasni ali trajni izgubi »po covidu« lahko uza- vestili, da je izjemnega pomena za celovito eksis- tencialno izkušnjo. Review of Anthropology of Smell (Antropologija vonja) by Mojca Ramšak After the sensory turn in anthropology in the 1980s, it has been a long time since Slovenian ethnology and/or cultural anthropology have produced a comprehensive and in-depth debut, a scientific monograph that systematically and comparatively addresses the sociocultural aspects and meanings of smell and the ability to smell. Dr Mojca Ramšak, full pro- fessor of cultural anthropology at the University of Ljubljana and the Alma Mater Europaea – In- stitutum Studiorum Humanitatis, has been re- searching the topic since the Covid-19 pandemic and published her scientific monograph this year (2024). Many people have experienced a more or less temporary or permanent loss of the abil- ity to detect smell, altered sense of smell, olfac- tory hallucinations or perceptions of smells that are not in the air, etc., after suffering from a new coronavirus disease. Although the first odour re- search in the Slovenian national context start- ed already in 2019, it is certainly no coincidence that a broader interest in sensory research related to odour has emerged during and after the pan- demic, when odour studies have also proliferat- ed concerning international contexts, e.g. in the Odeuropa, Horizon 2021–2023 and Odotheka 2021–2024 projects. Perhaps the fact that smell and olfactory skills are not ranked high on the scale of sen- sory perception in the so-called ‘Western’ cul- ture also contributed to the later consideration of smell and olfactory skills in a cross-cultur- al perspective in the Slovenian national context (in a comparative perspective with other senso- ry culturally conditioned perceptions of sight, sound, touch and taste), as well as elsewhere. The social environment in which people live defines the importance and hierarchisation of the sens- es, which is linked to survival strategies. The de- velopment of sensory ability and sensitivity to smells and the attribution of a particular (minor) value to smell is also significantly linked to the dimensions of the social environment. It is with regard to the olfactory aspect of the sensory per- ception of the natural and cultural environment that we humans are socialised into the cultur- al norm of so-called Western European society, which dictates silence or ignoring odours iden- tified as unpleasant. It is also true that pleasant and discreet odours are often not even perceived, which is exploited, for example, by scent market- ing strategies. This aesthetically pleasing book, which is also pleasing to the eye, consists of a foreword – the first inhale, an introduction – the deeper in- hale, and ten central chapters. The core chapters cover a methodological outline of the anthropol- ogy of smell and olfactory heritage, the linguis- tic dimensions of the idea of smell, smell in med- icine, and the olfactory imaginary, in addition to the cultivation of smell in literature and the cul- tivation of miasmas and aromas. The central part of the book deals with the legal regulation of scents within the national state of Slovenia and the European Union, covering the legal regula- tion of the (working) environment, food, bev- erages, tobacco, and perfumes, also highlight- ing the legal loopholes that allow the marketing R ev ie w o f A n t h ro po lo g y o f Sm el l (A n tr o po lo g ij a vo n ja ) by M o jc a R a m ša k st u d ia u n iv er si ta t is h er ed it a t i, le t n ik 12 (2 02 4) , š t ev il k a 2 / v o lu m e 12 (2 02 4) , n u m be r 2 112 of non-original fragrances due to the legal void. The main chapters of the Anthropology of Smell also cover smell treatment in marketing, sexual- ity and eroticism, and smell in cultural heritage and museology. The book concludes with a final conclusion or last gasp. Numerous tables comple- ment the book’s content, schematic illustrations of typologies and conceptualisations of smell, and photographs of numerous representations of smell and olfactory capacities, e.g. in sculpture and fine art and material objects from cultural heritage. The monograph is also accompanied by a comprehensive index and a list of sources and references, enabling readers to explore the olfac- tory theme’s various aspects further. The epistemological side of the book un- doubtedly attracts particular attention in an- thropological reading, where the anthropology of the senses and its research scope are presented, covering the study of the physical and cultural aspects of smell and the role of smell in the sen- sorium, the system of all five human senses. The anthropology of the senses studies the historical- ly culture-specific and contextual dimensions of sensory perceptions, which are significantly re- lated to memories, emotions, experiences and cognition. In this book, the author focuses on the neurophysiological dimension of smell and olfaction. She focuses on the mental concepts of different sensory orders in diverse cultures and the importance of the senses in everyday life. The book highlights culturally specific variations of senses and sensations, such as the highly cultur- ally specific case of the Malaysian hunter-gather- er Batek Negrito people, who, in their cosmol- ogy of the world, attribute smell to everything, including celestial bodies, e.g. an unpleasant car- nal smell to the sun and a pleasant floral smell to the moon. The mental concepts also address gen- der divisions: e.g. in Papua New Guinea, wom- en’s interiors are conceptualised as dark, juicy, and smelly, while men’s interiors are white, hard and odourless. The perception of odours attrib- uted to women according to the olfactory imagi- nary depends on the power attributed to women in a particular society. In many female-domi- nated communities studied, we have evidence of representations of women associated with bad smells. Bad smell is associated with wom- an’s morality, with ‘premarital virginity’ or ‘liv- ing in sin’, and thus only attributed to her mor- al depravity, etc. The sexual dichotomy of odours between men and women reflects the social pow- er of one and the other and attributes to them odours with negative or positive labels. Also important for anthropological episte- mology are the descriptions of the results of the main studies of cultural odours in a global con- text and the dismantling of fragmentary and partial references to odours in Slovenian ethnol- ogy, cultural anthropology and cultural histo- ry. The scientific monograph Anthropology of Smell thus focuses on (a) anthropological pres- entations of linguistic-semiotic analyses of olfac- tory concepts; (b) anthropological comparisons of different cultural meanings of smell between individual cultures and societies; (c) treatment of (sexual) behaviour and (religious) rituals in which smell plays an important role; (d) the role of the manipulation of ambient smells in con- sumer societies; and (e) the possibilities of ma- nipulating smells in the representation of cultur- al heritage in museological practice, in gallery and museum artefacts and performances. The scholarly monograph also brings to- gether the findings of major studies on the cul- ture of smell, including references to the physical and sensory characteristics of the people studied outside Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries. The latter, in particular, reveals insights into the colonial superiority of Europeans, the racialisa- tion of peoples to whom pseudo-scientists attrib- uted intellectual inferiority and who were clas- sified into different racial typologies linked to a greater ability to perceive smells, which consti- tuted a particular aspect of alleged mental de- generation. Of course, these generalisations also applied to the lower social classes in European societies. Undoubtedly, these studies on the di- mensions of power are of paramount importance for the exploration of a wide range of sensory do- 113 mains and reflect a certain cross-cultural senso- ry symbolism. The book also provides an analytically de- scriptive overview of early field research in mod- ern cultural and social anthropology. Ear- ly anthropological work includes, among other things, partial descriptions of olfactory percep- tions during fieldwork. Franz Boas (2009), who did anthropological fieldwork on Baffin Island with the Inuit, for example, describes the smell of bear grease used to impregnate tents; Bronisław Malinowski’s (1932) anthropological research in the Trobriand Islands focused on odour in phys- ical attraction and repulsion in the sexual life of ‘savages’, their olfactory magic before marriage, and odour in relation to witchcraft and witch- es. Later anthropologists have also occasion- ally turned to descriptions of smells. Claude Lévi-Strauss, for example, documented the ol- factory aspects of his field experiences in Bra- zil. In his ‘travelogue’ Tristes tropiques (1955), he described, among other things, the unpleasant smells of the foodstuffs and the ship he was sail- ing on. In addition, in his book Le cru et le cuit (1964) he also discussed the importance of smell and other senses, such as the treatment of smell in myths, the contrasts between unpleasant and pleasant smells, the smell of decay and the smell that was considered good. Anthropologists were interested in the so- ciocultural meanings of smells and how humans smell in a physiological and neurological sense in relation to the influence of culture in such per- ceptions: how culture influences the way a per- son perceives something and attributes a pos- itive or negative olfactory experience to it. The Ramšak’s book outlines cultural and historical studies on physical hygiene and environmen- tal deodorisation. It also focuses on cross-cul- tural comparisons of the symbolic meanings of sensory perceptions of aroma and on a series of overview histories of sensory perception, compi- lations relevant to cultural treatments and un- derstandings of smell, and knowledge of the his- tory of particular scents, such as the biography of perfume, which also reflected the bloc division of the world during the so-called Cold War. In an overview chapter of research on scent, Moj- ca Ramšak also devotes a detailed reading to the polyhistor Johann Weikhard von Valvasor  (2017) and his work The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola, which can be a cognitive tool for speculating on the question of the treatment of scent in the 17th century. In his work, he high- lights specific smells: the smell of flowers, medic- inal herbs, the smell of food and drink, quince cheese, fermented wine, also the smells of the material world, e.g. of the industrial world, such as kamšt (water pump), of the improper, un- chaste and virtuous life. Valvasor, for example, described the smells of people and focused on the perception of smells, picking them up from other sources, criticising the comparison of mor- al and olfactory modalities (e.g. the comparison of moral depravity and the bad smells charac- teristic of immorality). He also conceptualised the deterrence of people by bad smells, using the ethnographic description of the protective wear- ing of smelly chicken meat between the wombs of young Furlan women to ward off Avar invad- ers. A survey reading of ethnological and cul- tural historical works describing practices, cus- toms, rituals and the preservation of memories through smells also provides insights into the ol- factory dimensions in Slovenia, even if smells are only mentioned in a fragmentary way in these practices, but this is no less important, as they provide a starting point for a more in-depth ap- proach to the study of smell. The great scientific value lies in the illustra- tive presentation of the research methodology on smell and olfaction and related cultural heritage (museum conservation, olfactory reconstruction and recreation, olfactory scenic-ambient and ar- tistic (transformed) olfactory presentation). Be- sides the classical fieldwork and cabinet methods of cultural and social anthropology, the mon- ograph also highlights innovative techniques, such as, for example, the use of the ethnogra- phy of smell as a part of sensory ethnographies in cultural and social anthropology and sens- ing with participation The use and creation of R ev ie w o f A n t h ro po lo g y o f Sm el l (A n tr o po lo g ij a vo n ja ) by M o jc a R a m ša k st u d ia u n iv er si ta t is h er ed it a t i, le t n ik 12 (2 02 4) , š t ev il k a 2 / v o lu m e 12 (2 02 4) , n u m be r 2 114 olfactory maps were created through olfactory walks, circular olfactory charts, and measure- ment methods with different measuring devic- es such as olfactometers, olfactory cameras, and e-noses. Particularly convincing and illustrative is the autobiographical method presented in the foreword, which has a great epistemological po- tential recognised elsewhere in Europe but is ne- glected and less practised among ethnologists, social and cultural anthropologists in the Slo- venian national context, and some anthropolo- gists also have reservations/prejudices towards its use, due to its alleged subjectivity. In The An- thropology of Smell, we find a detailed descrip- tion of the methodology of studying smells, tak- en from David Howes (1991) and David Howes and Constance Classen (2014), which can also be an excellent source of methodological train- ing in sensory anthropology for (future) anthro- pologists and museum professionals and a pres- entation of the classification systems of smells in the natural sciences, psychology, and anthro- pology, for which we also find visual schematics made by the author. Besides autobiographical, anthropological, and cultural-historical olfactory perceptions, the author also elaborates on the conceptu- al representation of smell inscribed in language and cognition, produced in the interaction of the sense of smell and the language system. The monograph exposes more recent research in cross-cultural comparison and in culturally spe- cific contexts, neurocognitive mechanisms (from odour perception to lexical-semantic integration and phrasing) and processes in olfactory social- isation, and olfactory terminology in synchron- ic and diachronic perspectives. Additionally, the important role play also others non-linguistic culturally mediated communication tools, that are described in the book, such as facial expres- sions, gesticulation, and pictogram representa- tion. Ramšak also focuses on the study of ol- factory terminology and the cultural-linguistic characteristics of olfactory vocabularies, in par- ticular the symbolic dimensions of smells mean- dings, which are mapped out in metaphors used in different types of discourse, that are related to the cognitive dimension and evocate memo- ries of everyday life and its ritual rhythms. The conceptual metaphors of smell and the multiple meanings of olfactory expressions are particular- ly interesting in the book. The author gives ex- amples of the use of conceptual metaphors (in Slovenian language), e.g. ‘smell is the pursuer’, ‘smell is the air’, ‘smell is a lifelong event’, ‘smell is architecture’, ‘smell is the object’, ‘smell is the ag- gressor’, associated with ‘suspicion’, but also ‘pro- tector’, exploration and discovery are also meta- phorically linked to smell. Mojca Ramšak shows the interaction be- tween smell and the linguistic system, and the semantic dimensions of good and bad smells, which are connected with figurative uses and addressed to inferior ethnically distinct (social) groups, which are the target of olfactory misog- yny, olfactory racism and olfactory xenophobia. The author presents the olfactory imaginary in the Bible and the High Song, which she takes as a source for cultural analyses, using particular ob- jects in sacred rituals and using myrrh, aloes and frankincense scents as cultural fragrances. She then goes on to present the olfactory imaginary in relation to selected social groups: enslaved Af- ricans, black women, and Native Americans – ‘Indians’ – which she links to colonialism and the racism of the capitalist invaders and to the cultural-historical conception of the smells of the time, with which she also associates, for ex- ample, the Roma and the Jews. The book repeat- edly emphasises the Eurocentric principle in describing olfactory imaginaries. Still, conceptu- alisations from sub-disciplines or specialisations such as the anthropology of ethnicity, postco- lonial anthropology, Romani and Jewish stud- ies are missing, as are some of their findings. In the chapters dealing with ‘social commons’, the book would have benefited considerably more by drawing on a more in-depth and complex treat- ment of postcolonial anthropological perspec- tives in addressing racism towards black women, men (‘Black’) and Native Americans and oth- er indigenous peoples; antigypsyism concern- 115 ing Roma (Agarin 2014; Cortés Goméz and End 2019; Janko Spreizer 2022); antisemitism con- cerning Jews; approaches to gender studies; and feminist anthropology to reflect on misogyny. The issues of colonialism and developing capital- ism in the 18th and 19th centuries need to be ad- dressed in future with much more precision by anthropologists in Slovenia, as such debates are often still written from a perspective that is too insensitive to the racialisation and brutal capital- ist exploitation of Western societies, from which this part of the world was not exempt. It is hoped that future anthropologists will consider that Slovenia’s present-day territory was included in imperial history if they engage more deeply with olfactory racism. The book systematically surveys the history of medical-philosophical explanations of smell. It brings together the findings of early writers and classical physician-philosophers, such as Ga- len of Pergamum, Celz and Dioscurides, who at- tributed foul body odours to diseases and their symptoms. In addition to the thoughts of Greek philosophers and early physicians from antiqui- ty, the monograph also outlines the conceptu- alisation of odours relevant to medicine in ear- ly Islamic and European medicine and medical diagnosis from other cultures in a diachron- ic perspective. Of particular interest to the hu- manities is the treatment of smell in philosoph- ical thought, or rather, the conceptualisation of the philosophy of smell. The chapter on modern medical diagnostics is also particularly notewor- thy. Readers are given insight into the develop- ment of diagnostic procedures using new elec- tronic sensing devices for smell and taste, such as the e-nose, and with the aid of animals, that is a relatively unknown field. In medicine, specially trained assistance dogs are involved in diagnos- ing medical conditions and can sniff out specific diseases and medical anomalies in humans, e.g. a drop in sugar in diabetics, an impending ep- ileptic seizure, and can also help diagnose can- cers, impending Alzheimer’s disease, etc. There is no doubt that this chapter raises an important question for studying the relationship between humans and animals, which has recently become the subject of multispecies ethnography. Mojca Ramšak’s work also provides impor- tant insights into learning the olfactory imagi- nary, or the socialisation of olfaction, from ear- ly childhood onwards. For example, one of the studies cited above showed that children in kin- dergarten can discriminate between smells. Still, they cannot assign a value to smells; in- stead, they associate them with the question of how familiar they are with cultural practic- es typical of their home environments. The tes- timonies or mythologies of the so-called ‘wild’ or ‘wolf children’ are of particular epistemologi- cal value in insight into the socialisation of smell and olfaction. The accounts of wild animals sup- posedly raising children suggest that these chil- dren did not have the habits of civilisation and, even in the presence of resocialisation in the so- cial environment of humans, could not fully de- velop them. For example, in the case of Kasper Hauser abandoned and imprisoned in Nuern- berg in the 19th century and isolated from so- cial contact, it was impossible to inculcate him with the dietary regimes of the social environ- ment into which people tried to socialise him af- ter he had been found. His ability to develop his humanised senses could not develop, as his sens- es of smell and sight were atrophied. The chapter on cultivating the sense of smell in literature is of particular relevance to lit- erary studies. The author uses three iconic nov- els – Patrick Süskind’s (1986) Perfume, Marcel Proust’s (2003) In Swann’s World, and George Orwel’s (1937) The Road to Wigan – as a source of insight to address anthropological themes such as savages versus the civilised, the impact of smell on memory, and class relations. The book also looks at the production of fragrance, the attraction of people through smell and the commercialisation of scent. A cultur- al-historical approach shows that the use of fra- grances and lubricants is also present in ancient civilisations: for example, Cleopatra is said to have smelled spicy-sweet to the Egyptians, pre- sumably of dates and spices. The turning point R ev ie w o f A n t h ro po lo g y o f Sm el l (A n tr o po lo g ij a vo n ja ) by M o jc a R a m ša k st u d ia u n iv er si ta t is h er ed it a t i, le t n ik 12 (2 02 4) , š t ev il k a 2 / v o lu m e 12 (2 02 4) , n u m be r 2 116 for using fragrances to attract others dates to the 19th century when people wanted to smell good to others, coinciding with the industrial produc- tion of fragrances and the deliberate desire to de- odorise the environment and people. Studies on the masking and deterrence of human odours are also presented when, for example, in non-ur- banised environments, there was no basic mu- nicipal infrastructure to maintain personal hy- giene by washing and thus deter body odours. There was also a developing erotic scent culture and the use of fragrances for this purpose. Certain exhibitions in museums or tour- ist destinations are referred through the smell of the sea, and through gastronomy by marking the natural smells of the maritime landscape, the smell of salt, or by culinary (eating) habits, and specific dishes, such as fish, shellfish. Large shopping centres also seek to influ- ence consumers through scents and use diffus- ers on their premises, not only in the toilet are- as where synthetic toilet scents deliberately mask odours but also elsewhere. Ambient synthetic scents coincide with the seasons and holidays, where scents are used to encourage consump- tion practices that coincide with certain events. Synthetic and almost imperceptible smells are consistent with different festive seasons, other- wise dominated by culinary or natural smells. By scenting the premises through scent diffus- ers at the entrance doors of shopping centres, e.g. by spraying the smell of mulled wine and festive food in the run-up to New Year, they aim to keep consumers indoors and encourage them to shop. The marketing and use of synthetic scents in mu- seums, for example, also aims to allow us to ex- perience the use of the objects on display, some of which are also linked to the baggage of per- sonal memories or the associated cultural mem- ory of the environment in which we live. The author has also conducted some small- scale research to verify the findings of contem- porary research on the perception of smell. She has investigated the use of scents for marketing purposes in specific Slovenian spaces – e.g. tea rooms, where the smell of vanilla is used. Man- darin smell is used in schools, which is supposed to contribute to the concentration, calmness and well-being of schoolchildren to influence bet- ter concentration in learning, which was carried out by one of the schools in Primorska. Some ho- tel and spa chains use synthetic ambient scents, which are supposed to be their hallmark and are produced by specialised companies only for them. Mojca Ramšak concludes her pioneering scientific monograph, The Anthropology of Smell, with a chapter on smell and cultural her- itage, which outlines her important research in this field. The chapter includes an in-depth anal- ysis of international and domestic legal docu- ments regulating cultural heritage and registered knowledge and practices related to scent. The author analytically summarises the legal doc- uments on the protection of olfactory cultural heritage dating back to the late 20th and early 21st centuries, which regulate the cultural sig- nificance of smell and smell as part of intangible cultural heritage. It was not until 2021 that the French law on olfactory heritage was adopted, while the UNESCO Convention for the Safe- guarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of 2023 does not mention smell directly but allows for the protection of knowledge and practic- es related to smells. It was only on this legal ba- sis that, in 2018, knowledge and practices relat- ed to perfume production in the Grasse region of France were thus inscribed on the Representa- tive List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage un- der the keyword sensory systems. After this year, when scents and the knowledge and practices as- sociated with this aspect of the sensory are rec- ognised as an important aspect of intangible cultural heritage, a significant effort to protect local scents through UNESCO begins. The au- thor presents the UNESCO List of the Intan- gible Heritage of Humanity, which contains the nominations for listing on the UNESCO list, with explicit descriptions of odours and aromas in the rationale and keywords. By 2024, 12 nom- inations referenced scent, including the protect- ed beekeeping in Slovenia, which explicitly men- 117 tions scent. This section of the book also presents the research and engagement with scents in mu- seums, galleries and libraries in an encyclopaedic way. It outlines the field of olfactory museolo- gy, including its specific terminology. This chap- ter will be undoubtedly interested for students of cultural heritage and future experts interest- ed in museology, as well as curators who wish to focus on the display and analysis of smells and smell-related cultural practices. In the following part of the chapter, the author provides a com- parative overview of olfactory museology in the international context and Slovenia. She presents the results of the data collected in Slovenian mu- seums between 2021 and 2023 regarding the presence of odours and the awareness of odours related to specific museum exhibits and cura- tors’ exhibitions and teaching work. Interesting- ly, the museums that provided data in the sur- vey (49 museum professionals from 29 Slovenian museums out of 59 invited to participate) were estimated by the author to hold several hundred olfactory objects in 2023. The author also ob- tained detailed descriptions of the olfactory ob- jects, spaces imbued with scent, and substances and beings that emit odours., which allowed her to classify them into the following typology: ol- factory museum objects from Slovenian muse- ums, indoor and outdoor museum spaces related to smell, written documents describing smells, narratives about smells from past exhibitions or curators’ stories, and scented heritage-related ob- jects from museum shops. Mojca Ramšak’s scientific monograph is a debut in anthropology, dealing with the per- ception of smell in an ethnological, cultur- al, and anthropological perspective holistically and comparatively. Not only does the ethnolo- gist and cultural anthropologist comprehensive- ly address the study of scent through a review of anthropological studies that examine smell as a specific sensory experience, but she also sup- plements the analytical review in some chap- ters—more or less in-depth—with her own olfactory-ethnographic-anthropological re- search. In conclusion, I would definitely rec- ommend the book to the general public inter- ested in an insight into the anthropological treatment of smell, as well as to those anthro- pologists, ethnologists, and museum and cul- tural heritage specialists, who can significantly complement their anthropological theory and practice by considering the sense of smell, that only when temporarily or permanently lost ‘af- ter the Covid’ can we realise is exceptional for a holistic existential experience. Literatura/References Agarin, T., ur. 2014. When Stereotype Meets Prejudice: Antiziganism in European Societies. Stuttgart: ibidem-Verlag. 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