Duftende Texte. Über die Spuren des Olfaktorischen in literarischen Texten am Beispiel von Patrick Süskinds Das Parfum

Abstract

Fragrant Texts. On Traces of Olfactory Sensations in Literary Texts by the Example of ”Perfume: The Story of a Murderer’’ by Patrick Süskind

 Perfume: The Story of a Murderer“ by Patrick Süskind constitutes a perfect example of a literary text which, in its verbal layer, makes use of a variety of linguistic means aiming to reflect, as accurately as possible, the core notion of the world created in this text, namely scent. A linguistic description of olfactory sensations is an extremely difficult task,  as they are highly individualized and they always remain in a close relation with the recipient, drawing from his/her experiences and memories. The language that the author of ”Perfume: The Story of a Murderer“ employs enchants with the abundance of similes and metaphors, which turns dealing with this literary text into a special kind of experience. The article constitutes a linguistic analysis of ”Perfume: The Story of a Murderer“, whose focal point is the literary title itself and the way it is realized in the novel. The manner of creating the particular fragrances is analyzed  through the description of linguistic structures and stylistic forms that contribute to the coherent picture of olfactory impressions