Nostalgic objects of our affection: Mourning, memory, and maternal subjectivity.

Abstract

This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.'I have borrowed the term mourning play from Santner's (1990) brilliant analysis of mourning and memory in postwar Germany. Mourning play is a variant of Walter Benjamin's analysis of Trauerspiel which literally means "mourning play" and refers to the German baroque dramas. Santner suggested that "the post-modernist appropriates the Uenjaminian analysis of mourning play as one of mourning play" (p. 12).

Nostalgia: The bittersweet history of a psychological concept.

“…Kaplan (1987) distinguished nostalgia from depression and argued that for nostalgia to be normal it must contain both pleasurable and depressive affect. Many psychoanalytic theorists agree with Werman's characterization of nostalgia as "bittersweet, indicating a wistful pleasure, a joy tinged with sadness" (Werman, 1977, p. 393;Bassin, 1993;Castelnuovo-Tedesco, 1980;Hertz, 1990;Kaplan, 1987;Peters, 1985). Citing Mahler's notion of the ambivalently loved "mother after separation," Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1980, p. 122) explained the genesis of nostalgia's bittersweet character: "It is sweet because the original object or event gave pleasure and because the pleasure is enhanced through idealization.…”

How Personal Nostalgia Influences Giving to Charity

“…Since baby boomers are aging, they are becoming increasingly nostalgic (Unger et al, 1991) and as a result there is an increasing use of nostalgia in the marketing of consumer goods. There is an attempt to "reenact the reunion" with the lost past (Bassin, 1993), traditions, rituals and the ideal American community (Daniels, 1985). One can easily see these attempts in the use of the songs of the 1960s and 1970s and the strong emotional connections made between the past and such products as automobiles, hamburgers and soft drinks.…”

Where “Objects” and “Spaces” Are, There Relating-Through-Absence Ought to Be: Commentary on Papers by Joyce Slochower and by Laura Impert and Margaret Rubin

“…As well, Impert and Rubin are correct to state that previous writers have tended to categorize mature and less mature qualities of nostalgia in terms of the quality of fantasy (Akhtar, 1996;Kaplan, 1987;Werman, 1977). However, I can in fact think of several authors, including writers from outside the strictly psychoanalytic field, who have spoken of the link between nostalgia and sensory impression, and who also touch upon mourning (Bassin, 1993;Boym, 2001;Emery, 2005;Hodgkin & Radstone, 2003;Karafilly, 1998;Trigg, 2006). Thus, I began to feel compelled either to discount their excesses or to ignore my nagging impressions.…”