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Precis: "Nostalgia and It's Discontents" (2007) by Svetlana Boym

In Svetlana Boym’s article “Nostalgia and It’s Discontents” (2007), she argues that the spread of nostalgia had to do not only with dislocation in space but also with changing conception of time (12). She defines nostalgia as a sentiment of loss and displacement while also a romance with one’s own fantasy (7), thus, there is the danger of nostalgia in that it tends to confuse the actual home and the imaginary one (9-10). To this, she cites three important characteristics of nostalgia: that it is not anti-modern, rather it coevals with it; that while it appears to be a longing for a place, it is actually yearning for a different time; and that it is not always retrospective (8). In other words, Nostalgia is selective. She further discusses this by presenting two types of nostalgia: the first is restorative nostalgia which stresses the need to reconstruct the lost home or the believed good of the past making it collective, political and taking itself in a serious way; and the other is reflective nostalgia which thrives on the act/sensation of longing, almost fearing the homecoming movement, thus found in the gap between the dislocation, which is why it is more of a personal and humorous nostalgia in that it knows the impossibility and finds comfort in that (13). More importantly, nostalgia, according to Boym, is about the relationship between individual biography and the biography of groups or nations, between personal and collective memory (9), and that its danger is that it tends to confuse the actual home and the imaginary one (9-10). Finally, it should be understood that “nostalgia inevitably reappears as a defense mechanism in a time of accelerated rhythms of life and historical upheavals” (10), thus pointing out to its nature as a reaction such as to rebel against the modern sense of time by not conforming to the linear progression, and by revisiting the past or projecting it to the future, which is indicative of a displacement of the current/present. This article was written with the intention of giving a proper introduction and overview into the concept of nostalgia, and while it shows potential for a deeper exploration, it is sufficient enough to be understood by the ordinary laymen and serves as a good introduction for students, researchers and fellow academicians.

 (October 19, 2019)

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