Sedated by Progress: Nostalgia as a Force for Self-continuity in Contemporary Shenzhen

Scholars in different disciplines hold vastly different views of nostalgia, a powerful, pan-cultural emotional longing for an idealized past. This thesis bridges the conceptual gap between theoretical and scientific understandings of nostalgia, balancing the view of nostalgia as important to psychological health with its susceptibility to cooptation by outside forces. The example of Shenzhen, China illustrates how nostalgia enables people who feel alienated by “progress” to thrive in the face of rapid change by fostering a sense of personal and collective self-continuity. Nostalgia can be harnessed by powerful forces to project the present and future as the inheritance of a golden past. As an emotion, nostalgia does not serve any specific set of interests; its malleability makes it a tool for a wide array of politically diverse causes.

Grantor dc:publisher

Creighton University

Year dc:date.issued

2016

Author dc:creator

• Wester, Charles

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• White, Richard J.

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright is retained by the Author. A non-exclusive distribution right is granted to Creighton University and to ProQuest following the publishing model selected above.

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10504/87658

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:cdr.creighton.edu:10504/87658