Transcript Chapter 3 – A Critical Approach to Popular Culture

NOSTALGIA
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Lesson 19
SOC 86 – Popular Culture
Robert Wonser
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POP CULTURE FUELS ITSELF ON
NOSTALGIA
AW, REMEMBER THAT FIRST
LESSON WE SHARED?
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All those
many
many
weeks
ago…
WHAT IS NOSTALGIA?
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nostalgia - a sentimental longing or
wistful affection for the past,
typically for a period or place with
happy personal associations.
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 17thcentury medical student to describe the
anxieties displayed by Swiss mercenaries
fighting away from home.
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Described as a medical condition—a form
of melancholy.
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WHERE NOSTALGIA
REIGNS
RETROMANIA
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.
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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.
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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.
POP CULTURE
REPEATS
Critics have argued pop culture
repeats itself on 12-15, 20, 30 and
40 year cycles.
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The amount of years isn’t important
but the fact that it cycles is.
To take one case, Gopnik dates nostalgia
for the ’60s to the ’00s, citing “’60spastiche rock bands” and noting that
Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner sounds like
John Lennon.
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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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But only if you don’t count the independent
films.
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Less original content than in the past…
Nostalgia's definition has changed
greatly over time, as it was once
considered a medical condition similar
to homesickness.
Nostalgia has been found to have many
functions.
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Nostalgia now, however, is considered to
be an independent, and even positive
emotion that many people experience
often.
Several research articles have led to the
determination of the following as
functions of nostalgia.
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Many nostalgic reflections serve more
than one function at a time, and
overall seem to benefit those who
experience them.
POSITIVE FUNCTIONS
OF NOSTALGIA
Improve mood
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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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.
Increase social connectedness
According to Zhou et al. (2008), lonely
people often have lesser 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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Loneliness, however, leads to nostalgia,
which actually increases perceptions of
social support.
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.
Routledge (2011) and colleagues found
that nostalgia correlates positively with
one's sense of meaning in life.
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Provide existential meaning
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 deception
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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As a comfort
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AW, REMEMBER THAT FIRST
SLIDE FROM THIS LESSON WE
SHARED?