It's Not Just In Your Head #149: Nostalgia (ft. Grafton Tanner)
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Aug 15, 2023 In this engaging conversation, Grafton Tanner, a writer and professor, delves into the complexities of nostalgia as outlined in his book, *The Hours Have Lost Their Clock*. He describes nostalgia as a reaction to modern traumas, linking it to environmental grief and fabricated memories. The discussion touches on how nostalgia shapes identity and is weaponized politically, as well as its role in entertainment like sitcoms. Tanner also warns of the dangers of selective memory and encourages a proactive approach to shaping our futures.
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Nostalgia Is An Emotion With Political Power
- Grafton Tanner defines nostalgia as a bittersweet human emotion once medicalized as a disease and now widespread in public life.
- He warns nostalgia can be used productively or weaponized for reactionary ends depending on who benefits.
Homesickness For A Changing Environment
- Solastalgia names a homebound climate grief felt when environments change drastically and is linked to nostalgia for a lost place.
- Glenn Albrecht coined the term to describe communities suffering ecological loss and emotional dislocation.
Memory Is Negotiated, Not Fixed
- Human memory is malleable and we often cobble pasts from photos, stories, and desires to serve present needs.
- Tanner argues nostalgia always distorts the past to varying degrees and we must ask who benefits from that distortion.
