Sometimes we feel nostalgic. We lack a moment, a situation or a fact from the past, we suffer from something that has already happened, something that we had and ended up losing, that emotion can be felt by a person, a group (collective nostalgia), an object or certain events.
In nostalgia we can make an important differentiation, because there are two types of feelings: one is a positive feeling, a pleasant reminder of an object that is missing or disappeared over time, and the other is a negative feeling. A feeling of pain, of suffering for all that we can no longer recover, a desire for everything to be as before.
- Perhaps what stands out most in nostalgia is the desire of a loved one.
- Romantic separations.
- Long stays abroad or death make us very nostalgic.
- But nostalgia is no less important when the object is a place.
This kind of nostalgia mixed with melancholy affects people who are far from their homeland and who miss their homeland, their home, and the things that are familiar to them. We can go around the world, but we’ll never forget where we came from.
“Take my nostalgia and tell me what you see. ” Xavier Velasco?
We are also nostalgic for past situations or events, a particular case of this feeling is collective nostalgia, which refers to the shared desire for what society was or represented.
We’ve all heard someone say, ”At all times things were different”. The problem is that comparisons over time are never fair. Our memory and distortions can remind us of a distorted past. Selective memory will only show us the events that increase our nostalgia.
Many people want, while praising, the return of dictatorial regimes, they yearn for the absence of a strong hand in modern times and demand a strong and charismatic leader to re-magnify their country. Clearly, these people forget important parts of the past, and present: freedoms lost under an authoritarian regime and the possible crimes committed in those times from which they so desire return.
“There is no worse nostalgia than wishing for what never existed. “? Joaquim Sabina?
These people live in their fantasy, which is a distortion of reality; in this way, they end up glorifying the past and some of its representatives. Think of the people who praise such obnoxious historical figures as Hitler or Mussolini, even though they have moved on. for the community, their crimes should bury any nostalgia for that time.
Collective nostalgia is a group emotion that can become a strong motivation that will guide the group’s behavior. When we share the desire for a particular type of society with most members of our group, action is easier. If a large group wants to bring the one from the past to the present, violence can become a way to get what they want.
“It’s a strange pain, to die of nostalgia for something you’ll never experience?Alessandro Baricco?
Collective nostalgia will allow, in some cases, collective action, the more intense this emotion is in the group, the more likely it is that they will go out on the street to claim their object of desire, their glorious past, but this relationship is not so simple, you have to pay attention to negative emotions.
Anger, irritation and contempt are emotions that, aimed at another group, help in mobilization, when a group feels nostalgic for what society was like and identifies the culprit of change, negative emotions and actions occur in defense of its purpose. comply with the law, comply with the law or go beyond what is considered legal and resort to vandalism or violence
However, collective nostalgia does not have to be negative, if nostalgia falls on the old image of a country we have to see what that country was like or, better yet, what are those particular aspects that make us feel the nostalgia of this country. If nostalgia falls on values such as freedom and tolerance, future protests and actions will be directed towards more liberal ends, even if the means used to achieve them are not.
If, to some extent, we can influence and recreate our desires, we will make nostalgia a motivation for a better world. Lack of freedom, no restrictions, diversity and non-exclusion. Let our sighs find the reasons for your losses, not ours.