The Mailer Review/Volume 4, 2010/Looking at the Past: Nostalgia as Technique in The Naked and the Dead and For Whom the Bell Tolls: Difference between revisions
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{{byline|last=Batchelor|first=Bob|abstract=An examination of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nostalgia nostalgia] as technique in ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Naked_and_the_Dead The Naked and the Dead]'' and ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_Whom_the_Bell_Tolls For Whom the Bell Tolls]''. |url=https://projectmailer.net/pm/User:DBond007}} | |||
{{dc|dc=B|reit quotes Mailer in ''The New York Times'' in 1951:}} "A great writer always goes to the root, he is always coming up | |||
with the contradictions, the impasses, the insoluble dilemmas of | |||
the particular time he lives in. The result is not to cement society but to question it and destroy it."{{sfn|Breit|1951|p=20}} | |||
Nostalgia is a contested word that evokes numerous, often conflicting, | |||
definitions depending on its context. In contemporary usage, however, the | |||
term most often implies a romantic look at the past, as if history’s difficulties have been bleached out of existence. Through nostalgia, people can make | |||
sense of the past in a highly personal way, essentially crafting or re-creating | |||
narratives that fit into their broader ideas about self and society. The tendency, however, is to consider this use simpleminded. | |||
What I call the “nostalgic attraction” or the desire to examine the past | |||
through rose-colored lenses has become a vital component of popular culture. The general craving for nostalgia has transformed the idea into a commodity, used to advertise, market, and sell products by invoking a return to | |||
“the good ole’ days.” The nostalgic idea also drives mass culture. There are | |||
numerous examples of nostalgia assuming a kind of starring role across | |||
mediums, from blockbuster films, such as [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forrest_Gump ''Forrest Gump''] or ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanic_(1997_film) Titanic]'' to popular television shows, music, books, and fashion. Nostalgia is also closely associated with certain presidents, such as [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan Ronald Reagan], or with presidential eras, like John F. Kennedy’s [https://politicaldictionary.com/words/camelot/ Camelot]. | |||
==Citations== | |||
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==Works Cited== | |||
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* {{cite book |last=Breit |first=Harvey |date=1951 |chapter=Talk with Norman Mailer |title=The New York Times ''3 June 1951'', ''late ed., sec 7:20'' |location=Print }} | |||
{{Review|state=expanded}} | |||
[[Category:Articles (MR)]] | |||