Nostalgia

Avishai Margalit*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper Nostalgia has two distinct parts: One, accounting for nostalgia, by pointing out a systematic distortion in cases of nostalgic memoriesidealizing the past and presenting it as a sentimental realm of pure innocence. This distortion typifies kitsch morality, morality guided by sentimentality that can easily turn into brutality. For attacking the innocent seems to justify any brutality in return. Two, an account of what is an ethics of memory, claiming that memory as the case of nostalgia suggests is a fertile ground for ethical discourse, which is different from the politics of memory.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)271-280
Number of pages10
JournalPsychoanalytic Dialogues
Volume21
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2011
Externally publishedYes

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