![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
Analog Horror, Part Two
Nostalgia is an abstract theme to think through, but I did my best to pin it down. What interests me is the point at which nostalgia becomes creepy.
What is nostalgia?
Nostalgia is a longing for a time that has passed and will never return.
When is nostalgia not creepy?
Nostalgia is not creepy when it can be directed at something tangible. This is when the object of nostalgia is no longer accessible, such as a childhood home that now has new owners. This is also when the object of nostalgia is something that can be easily accessed, such as a movie that you can download and watch whenever you like.
When is nostalgia creepy?
Nostalgia is creepy when its target is in a liminal state. A childhood home that has been abandoned, for instance. You can return to it, but it has deteriorated from lack of maintenance. Or a movie that you can vaguely remember, but you can’t find mention of anywhere online.
Why do we go out of our way to experience nostalgia?
Nostalgia is pleasurable when it reaffirms a sense of self. Through nostalgia, you can recognize yourself as having decisively passed through a stage of your life, or you can recognize how current aspects of yourself evolved from a past version. Nostalgia solidifies a sense of personal history.
How does nostalgia relate to death?
When it confirms the legacies of the past, nostalgia can be comforting in its suggestion that nothing truly passes from memory, and that these memories continue to affect the present. Conversely, nostalgia that strays into the liminal, such as the nostalgia associated with abandoned places and lost media, forces us to confront the reality that nothing in this world is permanent. I believe that we’re fascinated by uncanny nostalgia because it allows us to approach the sublime through the mystery of death.
What is nostalgia?
Nostalgia is a longing for a time that has passed and will never return.
When is nostalgia not creepy?
Nostalgia is not creepy when it can be directed at something tangible. This is when the object of nostalgia is no longer accessible, such as a childhood home that now has new owners. This is also when the object of nostalgia is something that can be easily accessed, such as a movie that you can download and watch whenever you like.
When is nostalgia creepy?
Nostalgia is creepy when its target is in a liminal state. A childhood home that has been abandoned, for instance. You can return to it, but it has deteriorated from lack of maintenance. Or a movie that you can vaguely remember, but you can’t find mention of anywhere online.
Why do we go out of our way to experience nostalgia?
Nostalgia is pleasurable when it reaffirms a sense of self. Through nostalgia, you can recognize yourself as having decisively passed through a stage of your life, or you can recognize how current aspects of yourself evolved from a past version. Nostalgia solidifies a sense of personal history.
How does nostalgia relate to death?
When it confirms the legacies of the past, nostalgia can be comforting in its suggestion that nothing truly passes from memory, and that these memories continue to affect the present. Conversely, nostalgia that strays into the liminal, such as the nostalgia associated with abandoned places and lost media, forces us to confront the reality that nothing in this world is permanent. I believe that we’re fascinated by uncanny nostalgia because it allows us to approach the sublime through the mystery of death.