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using scent

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Suskind’s Perfume can also be read a critique of literature through the horizon of
expectations the author establishes and constructs. Much like the back cover of City
of Glass, the title of Suskind’s novel, Perfume: the story of a murder, establishes for
the reader many expectations that remain unmet. This is complimented by the initial
passages, immediately establishing Grenoville as a significant historical figure by
situating him next to the Marquis de Sade and Napoleon. Understanding the
significance of the historical context the novel depicts immediately elevates
Grenoville in importance. In the novel’s opening passage, the narrator’s language is
bombastic. Underpinned by hyperbole, the narrator elevates Grenoville’s status to
‘gifted and abominable’ historical figures of note. The expectation that the story will
follow the conventions of a historical novel are thus established. That said, the
narrative voice and elements of magical realism that dominates the novel
immediately contradict and critique initial expectations. The narrator, limited
omniscient and heterodiegetic, employs an exceptionally satirical and sarcastic tone
that encourages the reader to share this narrative perspective, and suggests a
certain subjectivity that deviates from the conventions of traditional historical novels.
Moreover, repetition of similar events, presented as a pattern (e.g. everyone who
Grenoville leaves dies) creates an unnatural formula that significantly deviates from
traditional historical novels. Both authors – Auster and Suskind – use the
construction and destruction of expectation around genre to critique the very nature
of genre and, by extension, of literature itself.

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Class is mocked in several ways in Perfume. In
particular, class is parodied through the caricature character Baldini whose fixation
with wealth and stature is put to shame in contrast to Grenoville’s pure talent. Not
only does their contrast criticize the Enlightenment by belittling Baldini’s need for
ocular proof, but it represents the beginning of Grenoville’s destruction of class. The
fact that Grenoville so easily climbs to the top of the French hierarchy, described as
rigid in the opening passage, suggests that class is a societal construction. The
contrast between Antoine Richis, a wealthy man described objectively and simply
despite his many riches, entirely undermines the notion of class itself. A further
important critique of society that Suskind makes can be inferred through the celestial
imagery that is used to construct the character of Grenoville. The celestial imagery,
juxtaposed with bestial imagery, ridicules God and religion itself. By understanding
the author’s context, readers can better interpret implicit meaning in the text as a
critical product of the society in which it was written. Understanding the disparity that
was growing at the time Suskind was writing Perfume allows readers to approach the
theme of class with added meaning.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-51655011

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A team in Moscow has created a putrid fragrance in a protest against plans for a perfume store in a building with a terrible past.

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The Language of Cosmetic Advertising- Dr Helen Ringrow

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The Language of Cosmetic Advertising- Dr Helen Ringrow

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Your choice of literary text is fascinating to me, I used to love this book back in the day and it really ties in beautifully with your unit. It's interesting that you chose to go for power dynamics that are constructed through the creation of fragrance. Thank you for sharing your Padlet link as well.
You could link this to texts on consumerism and marketing tactics as well as positing links to Marxist theory. With the figure of Jean-Baptiste, he almost seems to resemble a Frankenstein-ish figure, and is lost in the act of creation and believing himself to be god. A suggestion for an exercise you could conduct with your students is that they could debate whether advertisers have the same power especially in this day and age and how value of humanity is measured through the products they own.

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I love this book! It does allow for you to easily extend your texts. e.g. you could look at a technical text to find out what perfume is, or read an interview with a perfumer and contrast his approach with Jean Baptiste Grenouille's, or read about art and morality and discuss whether using animal parts in some exotic perfumes can be condoned, or compare how women and men's perfumes are marketed, or contrast with another advert such as a truck and see the different techniques used to sell to different audiences etc. There are a plethora of interruption texts that could be used to further the discussions on the contexts or the techniques used in your texts. Some of these would make good Paper 1 practice papers too.

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Perfume- The Story of a Murderer- Patrick Süskind

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Perfume- The Story of a Murderer- Patrick Süskind

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Students study the way the author uses sensory language (smell, mostly!) to colour their picture of 18th century France.

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Readers Writers and Texts:Conceptual Questions

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Readers Writers and Texts:Conceptual Questions

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Primary
In what ways is meaning constructed, negotiated, expressed and interpreted?

Secondary
How does language use vary amongst text types, and amongst literary forms?