Theorising Sensory Cultures in Asia: Sociohistorical Perspectives

• Published in: Asian studies review Vol. 43; no. 4; pp. 618 - 636
• Main Author: Low, Kelvin E. Y.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Nathan Routledge 02.10.2019; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Academic disciplines; Asia; Cross cultural studies; Cultural differences; Cultural values; Ethnography; Everyday life; history; Industrialized nations; Moral economy; Morality; Senses; sensory models; sensory transnationalism; Sociocultural factors; Sociology; Transnationalism; Asia
• ISSN: 1035-7823; 1467-8403
• DOI: 10.1080/10357823.2019.1664985

Sociocultural meanings of the senses in society have recently received scholarly attention in disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, philosophy, history and geography. With some exceptions, extant works have mainly focused on Euro-American contexts, or non-industrial societies. This article ethnographically documents and analyses the social life of the senses in everyday life historical contexts within Asia. I propose three theoretical themes: sensory models and modalities; sensory moral economies; and sensory transnationalism. These themes exemplify how social actors and institutions employ and accord meanings to the senses that can be located in the fabric of everyday cultural experiences, spanning different social arrangements and encounters. I examine more closely indigenous sensoria where sensory practices stemming from different parts of Asia are marshalled as sources of sociocultural theorising. This is a response to and continuation of extant works on sensory cultures in other contexts, raising, concurrently, cross-cultural comparisons. These comparisons will also initiate a rethinking of "Asia" through sensory intercrossings and encounters.