Paper short abstract:

Drawing on virtual ethnography and participant observation, I focus on the social, material and moral configurations of Eau de Cologne (kolonya, in Turkish) during the current COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey.

Paper long abstract:

In recent years, much has been written on the politics of sound and images, as well as on sonic and visual experiences in religion. Different kinds of smell likewise function as a mediating force in ethical formation and experiential religion. In Islam, scents are given a great significance with good scents being considered media of protection and divine presence. Different kinds of fragrances are extensively used in religious offering and commonly applied to objects of everyday ritual use, such as prayer mats or prayer beads. At the same time, they are also part of everyday therapeutic practices and form part of individuals' quest for a clean and sensually attuned body. Scents and fragrances are of a fleeting and emphemeral materiality, invisible, yet perceptible. They draw attention not only to the relationality of the material and the spiritual worlds, but also to that of bodily matter.

In my paper, I focus on the social, material and moral configurations of Eau de Cologne, kolonya, in Turkey and its diaspora during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Due to its high alcohol content and disinfectant effect, kolonya has recently assumed the role of a staple in everyday life in Turkey and became the quasi-official national cure for dealing with the Corona crisis.

Drawing on virtual ethnography, interviewing and participant observation in Berlin, I seek to contribute to the debate on mediation and materiality in experiential religion from the perspective of the Anthropology of the body, the senses and Islam.

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