nostalgia

Lesson 19SOC 86 – Popular CultureRobert Wonser

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Pop culture fuels itself on nostalgia

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Aw, remember that first lesson we shared?

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All those many many weeks ago…

What is Nostalgia?

nostalgia - a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.

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The word nostalgia is a learned formation of a Greek compound, consisting of nóstos, meaning "homecoming", a Homeric word, and álgos, meaning "pain, ache", and was coined by a 17th-century medical student to describe the anxieties displayed by Swiss mercenaries fighting away from home.

Described as a medical condition—a form of melancholy.

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Where nostalgia reigns

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Retromania

According to Simon Reynolds, recycling the past is nothing new, but that the vast digital advances of the most-recent decade have caused the amount of unimaginative and static retro culture to explode.

He says we’re victims of a “crisis of overdocumentation,” facilitated by “YouTube’s ever-proliferating labyrinth of collective recollection” and the fatiguing amount of digital music history only a couple mouse-clicks away. 7

Human beings need not rely on the foggy hard drives in their skulls anymore. Instead, they can simply Google a phrase, and spend an evening tumbling down the rabbit hole of not-so-old history.

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Pop culture repeats

Critics have argued pop culture repeats itself on 12-15, 20, 30 and 40 year cycles.

The amount of years isn’t important but the fact that it cycles is.

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To take one case, Gopnik dates nostalgia for the ’60s to the ’00s, citing “’60s-pastiche rock bands” and noting that Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner sounds like John Lennon.

The 2000s did see plenty of nostalgia for the 1960s. But so did the 1990s, the 1980s, and the 1970s—i.e., every decade since the 1960s, which were formative years for rock ‘n’ roll.

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Less original content than in the past…

But only if you don’t count the independent films.

Nostalgia's definition has changed greatly over time, as it was once considered a medical condition similar to homesickness.

Nostalgia now, however, is considered to be an independent, and even positive emotion that many people experience often.

Nostalgia has been found to have many functions.

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Several research articles have led to the determination of the following as functions of nostalgia.

Many nostalgic reflections serve more than one function at a time, and overall seem to benefit those who experience them.

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Positive functions of nostalgia

Improve mood

Batcho (2013) found that nostalgia proneness positively related to successful methods of coping throughout all stages—planning and implementing strategies, and reframing the issue positively.

These studies led to the conclusion that the coping strategies that are likely among nostalgia prone people often lead to benefits during stressful times.

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Increase social connectedness

According to Zhou et al. (2008), lonely people often have lesser perceptions of social support.

Loneliness, however, leads to nostalgia, which actually increases perceptions of social support.

Thus, Zhou and colleagues (2008) concluded that nostalgia serves a restorative function for individuals regarding their social connectedness

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Enhance positive self-regard

Vess et al. (2012) found that the subjects who thought of nostalgic memories showed a greater accessibility of positive characteristics than those who thought of exciting future experiences.

Provide existential meaning

Routledge (2011) and colleagues found that nostalgia correlates positively with one's sense of meaning in life.

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As a deception

One recent study critiques the idea of nostalgia, which in some forms can become a defense mechanism by which people avoid the historical facts. This study looked at the different portrayals of apartheid in South Africa and argued that nostalgia appears as two ways, 'restorative nostalgia' a wish to return to that past, and 'reflective nostalgia' which is more critically aware.

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As a comfort

Reliving past memories may provide comfort and contribute to mental health. One notable recent medical study has looked at the physiological effects thinking about past 'good' memories can have. They found that thinking about the past 'fondly' actually increased perceptions of physical warmth.

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Aw, remember that first slide from this lesson we shared?

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