exile

The article deals with the comparison of olfactory images in Patrick Suskind’s novel Perfume and Tayeb Salih’s The Season of Migration to the North in the communication context of Arab and European cultures. The initial theoretical point, based on the existing developments in the field of literary studies and cultural studies, is the idea of olfactory images as an essential component of the poetics of a work of art. The role played by olfactory images in revealing the characters of the two heroes Jean-Baptiste Grenouille and Mustafa Said is considered.

The article shows how the fates of Yu. G. Oksman and O. E. Mandelstam intercross, it also dwells on Oksman’s part in preparing the American version of the poet’s collected works. This topic is revealed in the context of the ХХth century history of national culture. Epistolary, memoir and biography sources are used widely. Oksman’s part in the process of reuniting different Russian literature branches is specially highlighted.