Mag. Dr. Stephanie Weismann

Current project: "The Smellscapes of Lublin. An Olfactory History of the 20th in Poland"

The study is sniffing out different odours and malodours that defined the city’s atmosphere throughout the 20th century and asks how political, social, cultural and economic structures and processes in Eastern Central Europe have been transformed into perceptible olfactory experiences. Based on selected case-studies, the project explores how these smells were perceived, discussed and handled by Lublin’s citizens. By nosing around the urban courtyard of the interwar period, the housing block during socialism and the bathroom of the 80s/90s the project provides insights not only into the changing smellscapes of Poland, but also 'smells out' political and socio-cultural tensions and sensitivities.

 

Research interests:

  • sensory studies
  • the social and cultural history of Eastern Europe and Russia in the 19th and 20th centuries
  • history of everyday life
  • history of emotions
  • popular culture under socialism and after

 

(Selected) publications:

  • Weismann, Stephanie: Es liegt was in der Luft. Geruchslandschaften der Volksrepublik Polen im Wandel, in: L'homme 31, 2: Verstörte Sinne (Krampl, Ulrike, Schulte, Regina (eds.) (forthcoming in 2020)
  • Weismann, Stephanie: Scents and Sensibilities. The Case of Interwar Lublin's Courtyards, in: Contemporary European History (forthcoming in 2020)
  • Weismann, Stephanie: Odorogenne zwierzęta w międzywojennym Lublinie. In: Almanach antropologiczny, Special Issue: Miasta i zwierzęta, ed. Anna Jarosiuk, Karolina Wróbel (forthcoming in 2020)
  • Weismann, Stephanie: Wie die DDR verduftete, in: Die Presse/Schaufenster (30.10.2019)
  • Weismann, Stephanie: Immer der Nase nach. Eine Geruchsserie in vier Teilen, in: Augustin. Wiener Boulevardzeitung (Mai - Juli 2019)
  • Weismann, Stephanie: “Das Potenzial der Peripherie. Leopold von Sacher-Masoch (1836 – 1895) und Galizien”, Wiener Galizien-Studien 2, Vienna University Press (V&R) 2017

 

Contact:

Research Center for the History of Transformations (RECET), Universität Wien, Spitalgasse 2-4/Hof 1.1 (Campus), 1090 Wien, Österreich

E-Mail: stephanie.weismann@univie.ac.at