ABSTRACT
As anthropologist Isabelle de Solier writes, post-industrial societies are focused on the individual self which is responsible for their own formation. Despite the cacophony of voices now studying sensory experiences in popular and academic literature, little is still known about how sensory education actually gets done in contemporary life. This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores a fundamental and incredibly difficult aspect of sensory training: the learning of new vocabularies and how to find words for the sensate. It deals specifically with the training of sensory experts. The book focuses on a particular aspect of the social nature of this experience, looking at learning in small groups and gatherings in workshops. It focuses on the products and objects which form part of this more elusive sensory training landscape, from wine labels to tasting diaries to menus. The book examines sensory education in “natural” landscapes.
