Maha Nasser: Nostalgia for the past
It is assumed that the more we develop and advance in technology and the human being becomes more civilized than before, the time we live in becomes one of the best eras ever. But this is not what happens. Because we are not grateful for what we are now, nor do we consider our current historical era to be one of the best. Despite the advances in technology and despite the fact that life has become easier since before. But there is great dissatisfaction and nostalgia for the past. Especially to the period after the fifties until the millennium. What do people miss to feel that nostalgia for that period?
If a picture from the past falls in your hand, or you remember a specific game you played in the past, or a specific meal you ate in the past, you may be nostalgic for that period and wish you could go back in time. Nostalgia is a defense mechanism in the face of spiritual alienation. It is a feeling of nostalgia for the ideal past from which we subconsciously exclude bad moments. This means that nostalgia for the past is not related to the fact that what happened in the past was already perfect and beautiful, because one may now live the best days of his life and yet yearn for the past. That nostalgia makes us feel two different and contradictory feelings at the same time, a beautiful feeling to bring back happy memories and at the same time a sad feeling for the past that will not return. Usually one's nostalgia for the period of childhood and youth precisely because that period is associated with mental joy and the stage of experiencing things for the first time. Certainly, we are going through a lot of difficult experiences at that stage, but the mind convinces you that that period was perfect and the most beautiful days of our life, but if it comes back we will really hate it. We are also nostalgic for the past when we move from one stage to another, whether this stage is age, social or spatial.
The individual's nostalgia for his past is a scientific and natural phenomenon that occurs with all people, with the exception of people whose pasts were dark, as they do not like to remember anything of it. Today, however, we are witnessing a collective nostalgia for the past. Where wars and advances in technology have caused a great wave of nostalgia among all age groups. In countries that suffer from wars, economic and security deterioration, and live many current problems. Their way of escaping from all this is to remember the past and lament it. There is a great and collective nostalgia for the past. People reflect their nostalgia through dramas that embody the period of the seventies and eighties in particular. Reproduction of old songs. In addition to publishing old photos and songs and installing video clips that refer to the warmth, simplicity and beauty of the past. They talk a lot about the past on all social media platforms. People long for familiarity between family members and neighbors, and long for times of watching television together. They long for their old possessions, old clothes, and old songs. They yearn for the times they spent together as family and as friends. The eastern society calls that time "the beautiful time". And they call the artists of that time, "the artists of the beautiful time". This is not limited to certain peoples without others, what I notice is that everyone longs for that period and wishes it would return. They see the past as simplicity, tolerance and innocence, and believe that this period is a period characterized by simplicity, tolerance, a sense of belonging to the family, and a sense of belonging to the homeland. And that people in that period had more values and principles than they do now. The suffering of wars created the longing for a feeling of safety and tranquility. As technological progress changed societies, people became affected by each other and are often affected by negative things more than positive ones. In addition, social media created a gap in society. Where people today live in one house, but they almost do not see each other or do not talk to each other. Despite the advantages of social media in creating friendship relationships and bringing the distance between family and friends, it has succeeded in separating them as well. The artificial idealism shown by content makers has created a kind of misery for some, because they do not live an ideal life, even though everything that appears on social media is not real and exaggerated.
So, is it nostalgia, or have we actually lost more things, values and principles that were embodied in the past than the present? Do we imagine that everything was good and that everyone was happy, or did they also feel misery and also nostalgic for earlier periods? Have wars, disasters and technological progress made this world full of falsehood to its edge?
