Once a week I meet my local comrade, Caviar Moet ( a real intellectual), at an independent cafe to discuss the state of the world, history and share poetry (often our own). At our last meeting, over a steaming cappuccino, there was a dispute about the history and use of the word
nostalgia.
In reference to my enjoyment of baking cookies on cold days and 1950's diners I refer to my "white nostalgia". Referring to feeling sentimental about a culture that wasn't necessarily a big part of my upbringing but I feel romantic about nevertheless because it is part of American culture (Also under this category is my connection to the show The Wonder Years)
Now, Caviar said that nostalgia can only be referenced in terms of "the good old days" and something a person has
actually experienced and now has emotional connection to. I wasn't really sure who was right, so I researched.
The term was originally coined by Johannes Hofer, a medical student in 1678 to refer to "the pain a sick person feels because he wishes to return to his native land, and fears never to see it again". During the period, from the late seventeenth century to the late nineteenth century, doctors actually diagnosed and treated nostalgia. Cases resulting in death were known and soldiers were sometimes successfully treated by being discharged and sent home. (Although a diagnosis was, however, generally regarded as an insult)
Now, nostalgia is more commonly referred to, not as a medical condition or a field of study, but as a feeling that any normal person can have. Nostalgia can often be associated with a fond childhood memory, a certain game or activity, often with a certain person, or a treasured personal object.
Studies show that many people believe that years or decades past people were better off than they are now, and that there had been a higher standard of living then, even if this is not always the case. This belief can be very characteristic of nostalgia, of the "good ol' days." Items in pop culture can often trigger a strong feeling of nostalgia; TV shows like Lost In Space and foods like moon pies, for instance, can bring back wistful memories for Baby Boomers. People can also have nostalgia for a certain decade.
Nostalgia is no longer a medical condition, but it can produce symptoms that are very much real and physical in nature. These symptoms can include, but are not limited to, tightening of chest and/or throat, pain in the pit of the stomach, and eventually feelings of despair.
So, you decide. Is my use of the word correct? (I still think it is)
