The Frontier Nature of Nostalgic Memory

Abstract

The research is devoted to nostalgia, understood as an existential and a form of historical memory. The timeless relevance of the problem, which is becoming particularly acute in the space of modern mass culture, the culture of the globalized world, is highlighted. The problem is expressed by the contradiction between the orientation of modern culture towards the future and nostalgic intentions in various spheres of social life. This problem includes the question of the role of nostalgia in the life of the subject. The purpose of the study is to determine the ontological foundations of the modern “cultural turn” to the past in social psychology, and to identify the levels, features and models of nostalgic experiences. Four levels of nostalgia representation in culture are highlighted: individual, group, national and universal. The most recognizable features of nostalgia as a form of memory are considered, such as the existential grasp of being in a nostalgic experience, the non‑narrative, symbolic, mythological nature of fixed images of the past, striving for metaphysical authenticity, awareness of the impossibility of returning to the object of longing and simultaneous awaiting of the future, as well as transcending the boundaries of individual being. It is concluded that nostalgia can be both a tool for preserving the existing social order – and changing it, manifesting itself in the form of a static or dynamic model of experiencing longing for the past. The article is intended for researchers of the problems of mass culture, historical memory, and identity of a social subject.

Keywords

• nostalgia
• mass culture
• globalization
• historical memory
• time
• past
• existential
• identity
• sociocultural order
• cultural practices