Nostalgia

We explain what nostalgia is, the origin of the term and various ways to understand it. Also, its relationship with melancholy.

What is nostalgia?

Nostalgia is a feeling of longing for past situations generally those that we find pleasant, important or unforgettable. It can be characterized as sadness over the loss of things past and, at the same time, joy associated with the memory of those things.

The Dictionary of the Spanish Language defines nostalgia as the “sorrow of being absent from the homeland or from relatives or friends” or the “melancholic sadness caused by the memory of a lost happiness.” In this way, it is not easy to determine whether it is a pleasant or painful feeling.

the word nostalgia It is a cultism, formed by Greek words us (“return”) andlgos (“pain”). Was introduced by the young Swiss doctor Johannes Hofer (1669-1752) in his thesis of 1688 at the University of Basel.

Hofer described an illness, similar to melancholy which affected Swiss mercenaries who had left their homeland to fight in the service of a foreign power. Some of the symptoms of this disease were fever, indigestion, fainting, languor and irregular pulse. He called this condition nostalgia either evil of the country (heimwehin German).

In the following centuries, nostalgia went from being judged as a particular illness to be treated as a symptom or a stage of a broader pathological condition, common in people with suicidal thoughts. However, until the early 20th century, homesickness, described as an intense and potentially dangerous desire to return to one's native place, was diagnosed in many soldiers.

Currently, nostalgia is considered a natural emotion, which many people experience frequently and which can even be positive. Psychology has studied its effects on the psyche and has discovered that has important functions. For example:

• Improves self-esteem and mood.
• It helps to face the difficulties of the present and the uncertainties of the future.
• It gives meaning to one's existence.

Along with the positive aspects, nostalgia also has less beneficial features, insofar as it is a form of self-deception in which the past is idealized and distorted, eliminating the bad or boring parts from memory.

In this sense, The excessive cultivation of nostalgia can give rise to an unreal vision of a past that has never existed and that cannot exist, but that is tirelessly searched for. Thus, nostalgia becomes an obstacle to enjoying the present.

Although the term is relatively recent, the feeling of nostalgia has a long and ancient history, as attested by the Odyssey by Homer (8th century BC), whose central theme is us ('return') of Odysseus to his native Ithaca, after fighting in the Trojan War.

See also: Anxiety

Nostalgia and melancholy

Often, “nostalgia” and “melancholy” are used synonymously, since both tend to be associated with a sad feeling contemplative or reflective.

However, there are important differences between the two:

• Melancholy is an apathy (lack of desire) state of sadness and disinterest, which often leads the subject to get lost in memory or fantasy. Nostalgia, on the other hand, is a feeling of longing for the past, to which pleasant sensations are associated.
• Melancholy causes in those who experience it a feeling of dissatisfaction with their own life, which does not happen in nostalgia.
• Melancholy occurs in a way that extends over time, going beyond a specific time or place in the past. On the contrary, nostalgia is often connected to a specific memory.
• Melancholy is linked to unpleasant experiences and emotions, and sad thoughts. Nostalgia can be linked to pleasant feelings (for the past experienced) and unpleasant feelings (for the loss of that past).

Since ancient times and until a few centuries ago, melancholy was considered one of the four temperaments corresponding to the four humors that regulated the functioning of the human body (phlegm, blood, yellow bile and black bile). Excess black bile was responsible for the melancholic temperament. Melancholic people were characterized by a depressed mood, complaints, and sometimes hallucinations and delusions.

Often, melancholy was associated with genius and creativity and also with evil and demonic possession. Romanticism classified it as a disease of poets. In the 20th century, melancholy became synonymous with depression.

Today, the term melancholiain addition to its usual value, is used in psychiatry to refer to certain characteristics present in depression like the mood of dejection; disinterest and lack of pleasure in activities that are normally enjoyed; lack of emotional response and loss of appetite.

We are all prone to nostalgia in one way or another, but not all of us suffer from melancholy. Even fewer suffer from melancholic depression, which can become a real health problem, rather than a mood that disposes to creativity.

Words from other languages ​​related to nostalgia

the word nostalgia It is present in many languages: nostalgiain Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and English; nostalgia in German and French; nostalgia'giyain Russian; nostalgiain Swedish and Danish. There are also, in various languages, words that designate concepts related to nostalgia.

• Saudade. It is a word of Portuguese origin that designates love and longing for someone or something that has been lost and may never be recovered.
• Homesickness. It is a Spanish term of Galician origin, which refers to a feeling of sorrow or sadness that is felt when being far from one's homeland or from loved ones and places.
• Monkey not aware. It is a Japanese expression that literally means “the pathos of things.” It refers to an awareness of the brevity of things, along with an appreciation of their ephemeral beauty and a gentle sadness at their disappearance, and a deeper sorrow at the realization that all things must pass.
• Sehnsucht. It is a German word that means “to yearn” or “to desire.” It indicates the constant and ardent desire towards an ideal that comes to seem more real than reality itself. Unlike nostalgia, which involves longing for the past, sehnsucht refers to the search for something indefinite in the future.
• Homesickness. It is an English word used to refer to the anguish caused by being away from home. Often translated as homesickness either nostalgia.
• Hiraeth. It is a Welsh word that expresses longing, tinged with sorrow and sadness, for the past and for something that no longer exists.
• Bad du pays. It is a French expression to describe the discomfort of those who have left their country or region. It is equivalent to the German Heimweth ('homesickness', 'nostalgia'), the English homesickness and to Spanish homesickness.

Continue with: Memory

References

• “Nostalgia”, on Wikipedia.
• “Nostalgia”, in the Dictionary of the language of the Royal Spanish Academy.
• “Why do we feel nostalgia?”, in Muy Interesante.
• “The Meaning of Nostalgia,” in Psychology Today.
• “The nostalgia of the country”, on swissinfo.ch.