The Sociological Analysis Of Contemporary Nostalgic Sentiment

In contemporary society, nostalgia has become a social phenomenon which cannot be neglected. This paper attempts to analyze the nostalgic sentiment in a society having diverse values and fragmented life from the sociological perspective. Based on the relationship between nostalgia and identity as the main line, the paper not only discusses the mechanism of nostalgia promoting personal identity, but also points out that in today’s society, atomized individuals’needs of sense of belonging to a group have strengthened. Therefore the past that nostalgia longing for is no longer limited to personal biographic memories, but also turning to the collective memory in pursuit of collective identity.The paper first discusses the relationship between nostalgia and modernity, namely nostalgia as a kind of problem consciousness and common social phenomenan is closely related to the change of the society and culture. And social changes lead to the change of the concept and experience of nostalgia which turns from a strong sense of homesickness to a kind of emotion longing for the past. In the meantime, considering that the identity problem is also highlighted in the transformation of modern society, and a very important significance of nostalgia lies in the promotion of the continuity of identity, nostalgia and identity are connected through the way of personal construction and reconstruction of the past. After elaborating on the role of nostalgia on the individual, the author further broadens horizons to the macro level of social nostalgia phenomenon. Here, with the concept of collective memory private nostalgia and collective nostalgia are distinguished, presented how generational nostalgia uses and constructs collective memory to seek collective identity, and how nostalgia connects private memories and collective memory. With the full penetration of the mass media into people’s life, nostalgia, as an effective means of unity and assimilation, has gradually descended to media creations, and is implanted in the popular culture as an effective business strategy, converting into market share. At the same time, the reflexive character of modernity itself has made nostalgic experience develop from simple nostalgia toward reflexive nostalgia, and become an opportunity to criticize and rethink the modern society in order to counter the commercialization and ideologization of nostalgia. In addition to the dimension of reflexivity, the meaning of our contemporary nostalgia also lies in its ethical implications and aesthetic dimension.Nostalgia is worth being taken seriously, because it is not just useless yearning for the past, but a form of sentiment of vital importance in all human’s life. Nostalgic theme is attractive though not simple. Its attraction is contained in its own contradictions and fuzziness:nostalgia can be a kind of social disease, but it can also be creative emotion.