Nostalgia : a history of a dangerous emotion / Agnes Arnold-Forster.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Arnold-Forster, Agnes, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Nostalgia--History.

Nostalgia.

Change (Psychology)--History.

Change (Psychology).

Homesickness--Social aspects.

Homesickness.

Desire--Social aspects.

Desire.

Emotions--Social aspects.

Emotions.

Physical Description:

xi, 260 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (chiefly color), map ; 25 cm

Other Title:

History of a dangerous emotion

Place of Publication:

London : Picador, 2024.

Summary:

"In Nostalgia: A History of a Dangerous Emotion, historian Agnes Arnold-Forster blends neuroscience and psychology with the history of medicine and emotions to explore the evolution of nostalgia from its first identification in seventeenth-century Switzerland (when it was held to be an illness that could, quite literally, kill you) to the present day (when it is co-opted by advertising agencies and politicians alike to sell us goods and policies). Nostalgia is a social and political emotion, vulnerable to misuse, and one that reflects the anxieties of the age. It is one of the many ways we communicate a desire for the past, dissatisfaction with the present and our visions for the future. Arnold-Forster's fascinating history of this complex, slippery emotion is a lens through which to consider the changing pace of society, our collective feelings of regret, dislocation and belonging, the conditions of modern and contemporary work, and the politics of fear and anxiety. It is also a clear-eyed analysis of what we are doing now, how we feel about it and what we might want to change about the world we live in"--Publisher's description.

Contents:

Introduction: the good old days?

Milkmaids and mercenaries

Dying from nostalgia

Homesickness

The psychology of nostalgia

The nostalgia wave

How to turn an emotion into revenue

Reinventing the world

Political nostalgias

The nostalgic brain

Rehabilitating nostalgia.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 221-249) and index.

ISBN:

9781529091366

1529091365

OCLC:

1432328552