Everyday Life in Asia - 9780754679943

Everyday Life in Asia offers a range of detailed case studies which present social perspectives on sensory experiences in Asia. Thematically organized around the notions of the experience of space and place, tradition and the senses, cross-border sensory experiences, and habitus and the senses, its rich empirical content reveals people's commitment to place, and how the sensory experience of place provides a key to penetrating the meanings embedded in everyday life.

Offering the first close analysis of various facets of sensory experience in places that share a geographical location or cultural orientation in Asia, this collection links the conception of place with understandings of `how the senses work'. With contributions from an international team of experts, Everyday Life in Asia will be of interest to anthropologists, geographers, and sociologists with interests in culture, everyday life, and their relation to the senses of place and space.

This book takes a big step toward understanding that human existence is in all its aspects a social existence. After the traditional focus on action and interaction, and the more recent sociological concern with the body and the emotions, now comes the time to demonstrate the social nature of seemingly private sensual experiences. By linking persuasive argument with colorful cases from the `exotic' context of Asia, the authors open new vistas for sociological research, but also make the volume sheer fun to read. Piotr Sztompka, Jagiellonian University at Krakow, Poland and Past President of the International Sociological Association.

This is an important collection, essential for anyone interested in the sensory veining of everyday life. Beautifully conceptualized and expertly executed, the book grants us unprecedented access to the interplay of the senses and society in one of the most underrepresented areas of sensory study: Asia. This is a collection at once fascinating and edifying.