Nostalgia, Religion and Popular Culture : Rethinking the Sacred and the Secular Through the Death of Queen Elizabeth II / Chris Deacy.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Deacy, Chris, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Elizabeth, II, Queen of Great Britain, 1926-2022.

Elizabeth.

Nostalgia--Great Britain.

Nostalgia.

Popular culture--Religious aspects--Great Britain.

Popular culture.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (217 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Distribution:

London : Bloomsbury Publishing (UK), 2024.

Place of Publication:

London : Bloomsbury Academic, 2025.

System Details:

text file HTML

Summary:

Drawing on the event of Queen Elizabeth II's death in 2022 as a central case study, this book explores the way we navigate the relationship between nostalgia and religion. Focusing on the lived experiences of 'ordinary people' and in tandem with the 'turn to the self' discourse, Deacy suggests that our relationship with nostalgia illustrates the shift from objective and transcendent value-systems towards the domain of everyday experience, love and loss. This book revisits the way we understand religion and the secular, using the medium of popular culture, such as radio, film, TV and music to interrogate the 'nostalgia-as-religion' narrative. The interpersonal and social elements of nostalgia are explored, such as through the way radio fostered virtual communities and played a key role regarding national, religious and cultural memory during the mourning of the Queen. Attention is given to how nostalgia has evolved over time, and how it can be understood as a religious process which transforms our lives at a time of loss and contributes to an eschatological future.

Contents:

Introduction: 'Turning to the self': Why Nostalgia and Religion? 1. Towards an Understanding of Nostalgia as Religion: The Interpersonal, Social and Secular Dimensions of Nostalgia 2-7. National Mourning, Religious and Secular Identities and Communities, and the Harnessing and Reframing of Nostalgia: Reporting the Death of Queen Elizabeth II on BBC Radio 8. Nostalgia, Music and Healing Narratives 9. Retro Salvations: Nostalgic and Wish-Fulfilment Fantasies and Healing Narratives in Film 10. Uncritical Religion and Never-Never Land: Nostophobia and the Reactionary Nature of Nostalgia 11. The Prelapsarian Past and the Utopian Future: Reframing Traditional Theological and Religious Perspectives on Nostalgia and Eschatology Conclusion: Nostalgia as Religion: Religious Impulses and the Creative and Transformative Possibilities of Nostalgia

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781350505247

1350505242

9781350477827

1350477826

9781350477834

1350477834

OCLC:

1477220697