Flowers in Uncertain Times: Waste, Islam, and the Scent of Revolution in Tunisia

Abstract

ABSTRACT Flowers have been efficacious political symbols throughout the ages. They have united groups under nationalist banners and given their names to revolutionary movements. However, to view flowers as political symbols alone neglects their materiality and the way that it shapes politics within particular sensory registers. This paper explores how jasmine influenced perception of the Tunisian revolution of 2011 through its olfactory power in the context of a garbage crisis that had enveloped the country. It argues that read within the context of Tunisian Islam, garbage was polluting and dangerous to individuals and the revolution itself. Jasmine on the other hand, could be read as a multi-sensory representation of the Islamic concept of purity that could protect and lend blessings to individuals and the revolution by pleasing the spirits. The scent of flowers in uncertain times was reassuring and shaped how Tunisians perceived the revolution and its aftermath.