The sense of smell as an object of research in History: the odors of the pesticide of modern agriculture in food production in Boqueirão (Paraiba, Brazil) and the impacts on human health (1950-2023)

Abstract

This text problematizes the sense of smell as an object of research of history from the olfactory memories of the interviewees of Boqueirão (Paraíba, Brazil) about the production of food from modern agriculture, carried out on the banks of the Epitácio Pessoa weir, popularly known as the Boqueirão weir. Inspired by Corbin (1987), we problematize, through the concept of smell, how the modernization of agriculture impacts on human health and the environment. We explore these olfactory “memories” (Candau, 2019) in the field of oral history (Alberti, 2004; 2019) and use as methodology the discourse analysis (Foucault, 2008). Based on Certeau (2019), we made a history of daily life from the reading of olfactory sensibilities (Pesavento, 2007) referring to the historical and cultural processes of food production in Boqueirão. We found that smell is a powerful sense of capture, writing, reading and problematization of social places, times and problems of the present time that afflict society, such as the damage caused to human health by pesticides.