Sociology and Nostalgia: Micro-, Meso-and Macro-level Dimensions of an Ambiguous Emotion

Autor: Janelle L. Wilson, Michael Hviid Jacobsen
Přispěvatelé: Jacobsen, Michael Hviid
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Jacobsen, M H & Wilson, J L 2021, Sociology and Nostalgia: Micro-, Meso-and Macro-level Dimensions of an Ambiguous Emotion . in M H Jacobsen (ed.), Intimations of Nostalgia : Multidisciplinary Explorations of an Enduring Emotion . Policy Press, Bristol, pp. 89-109 .
Intimations of Nostalgia
Intimations of Nostalgia ISBN: 9781529214789
Popis: This chapter highlights important contributions from the field of sociology to the study of nostalgia. Sociology offers a unique and valuable perspective from which to study nostalgia. Sociologists are especially apt to emphasize that the conceptualizations, experiences and uses of nostalgia are variable. The foundational work of Fred Davis (Yearning for Yesterday: A Sociology of Nostalgia) in 1979, is considered the first truly sociological treatment of the phenomenon of nostalgia. Davis’ distinction between ‘private’ and ‘collective’ nostalgia as well as his identification of three successive orders of nostalgia (‘simple’, ‘reflexive’ and ‘interpretive’) provided a solid foundation for other sociologists interested in analyzing the complex and ambiguous emotion of nostalgia. Well before the work of Davis, early sociologists could be viewed as exploring aspects of nostalgia – at least in an indirect way – as evidenced in their focus on societal changes and psychosocial challenges brought about by the Industrial Revolution. Karl Marx’s discussion of alienation, Max Weber’s concerns about over-rationalisation, Émile Durkheim’s conceptualization of social solidarity, Ferdinand Tönnies’ distinction between Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft, and Georg Simmel’s description of objective and subjective culture all express dissatisfaction with the present and a sense of loss, which is at the heart of nostalgia. From the backdrop of these early sociologists, this chapter examines key sociological insights on nostalgia and, in so doing, discusses other relevant concepts such as meaning, memory, identity, social structure and politics. In this way, this chapter shows how sociological insights can shed light on the phenomenon of nostalgia on the micro, meso and macro levels of social analysis.
Databáze: OpenAIRE