30, July 2026

The Scent of Self: Olfactory Memory, the Proust Phenomenon, and the Reconstruction of Identity in Radhika Jha’s Smell

VOLUME-10; ISSUE-7; JULY-2026

Author(s): Kawya G , Dr. S .Vimala

Authors Affiliations:

  1. Ph.D Research Scholar , English Literature , PSG College of Arts and Science
  2. Associate Professor of English , PSG College of Arts and Science

DOIs:10.2017/IJRCS/202607010     |     Paper ID: IJRCS202607010


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Abstract

In literary criticism, sensory imagery has traditionally been dominated by the visual and the auditory, leaving the olfactory sense smell;relegated to the margins as a primitive or purely decorative device. However, Radhika Jha’s debut novel, Smell (1999), challenges this ocularcentric bias by positioning scent not merely as a descriptive ornament, but as the foundational architecture of human consciousness, trauma, and cultural displacement. This paper examines how Jha employs olfactory experiences to reconstruct memory and identity through the psychological and neurobiological framework known as the  Proust Phenomenon  the involuntary, highly emotional retrieval of autobiographical memories triggered by a scent.Using an interdisciplinary methodology that synthesizes qualitative textual analysis, close reading, and psychological literary criticism rooted in memory studies, this study explores the cognitive trajectory of the protagonist, Leela. It investigates how odors serve as sensory archives that bypass conscious intellectual filtering to resurface deeply buried episodic memories. By integrating the pioneering psychological research of Rachel Herz, Gordon Shepherd, Johan Willander, and Chu and Downes, this paper analyzes the structural, emotional, and socio-cultural dimensions of olfactory recall. The findings reveal that Jha uses scent as a sophisticated narrative and psychological mechanism: first, as an engine of involuntary autobiographical memory; second, as an embodied site of trauma and migrant marginalization; and third, as a non-linear structuring device that disrupts traditional chronological storytelling. Ultimately, this paper contributes to the growing field of sensory studies and contemporary Indian English fiction by demonstrating that Jha’s narrative anticipates cognitive findings on odor-evoked recall, proving that smell operates as a dynamic, living archive of human identity.

Keywords: Olfactory Memory, Proust Phenomenon, Sensory Studies, Memory, Identity, Radhika Jha, Cognitive Literary Criticism.

Kawya G , Dr. S .Vimala (2026); The Scent of Self: Olfactory Memory, the Proust Phenomenon, and the Reconstruction of Identity in Radhika Jha’s Smell, International Journal of Research Culture Society,    ISSN(O): 2456-6683,  Volume – 10,   Issue –  7,  Available on – https://ijrcs.org/

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