Cambridge scholar trolled for PhD on politics of smell explains what her research is all about

In November, I celebrated finishing my PhD. After three and a half years of writing and research, it was an occasion I wanted to share with my academic network, so I posted a photo of myself holding a physical copy of my PhD thesis on X. The post amassed 120 million views and sparked a lot of anger in response to its title: “Olfactory Ethics: The Politics of Smell in Modern and Contemporary Prose”.

The title received criticism from those who were wilfully misrepresenting the nature of the research. “Smells are racist,” became a misguided refrain. One user commented that it was a study of “why it’s racist and/or classist to not like it when people exhibit body odors consistent with poor hygiene”.

My thesis studies how certain authors of the past century used smell in literature to indicate social hostilities, such as prejudice and exploitation. It also connects this to our real-world understanding of the role the sense plays in society.

For instance, in The Road to Wigan Pier (1936), George Orwell states that “the real secret of class distinctions in the West” can be summed up in four frightful words: “The lower classes smell.” Orwell proceeds to unpick the harm that this kind of messaging causes and...

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