NOSTALGIA

INTRODUCTION

Nostalgia is the feeling through which someone is able to remember a lot about what has been done in his past and how that element from the past is able to affect the person in a riveting manner, which is likely to increase the excitement that a person receives at the same duration while he is experiencing nostalgia. The motive of nostalgia s quite different from other cognitive elements, such as memory and the ability to experience different emotions, particularly centered upon positivity rather than negativity.

The paper will be a brief review of the capstone project in attempting to relate to the audience as to what will be explained throughout the entire paper and how the audience will be able to relate with it on a long term basis. Moreover, it is also considerable to understand that the capstone project will most undoubtedly reveal the real purposes of the study rather than focus on one clear initiative. The entire paper will also aim t provide a clear thesis in relation to the topic of nostalgia and how the thesis will help determine an argument or the relaying outcomes later on in the paper.

Furthermore, the paper will also include a thorough literature review about nostalgia, particularly keeping in mind the works of Shen Congwen and Lao She as examples. The study will also focus on how the research project is able to develop a more thorough and investigative approach to the current topic and how it guides the readers and audience into understanding what the topic will focus on. An extensive literature review along with the sources and methodology of the topic will also be discussed so as to bring about a more significant position to the paper and allow readers to understand what is being taught to them in the overall basis of the topic. This will also help in readers easily assessing what they are reading.

Finally, the project will also focus on dictating what the sources will be about and how each of these sources will be able to allow a more thorough investigation to be done upon them and how each source will refer to the topic in question with a dignified and relative approach. Moreover, in the end, it will be related as to how the topic holds certain significance upon the readers and how this topic actually is able to gain interest from the readers in the long run.

EXPLANATION OF DEVELOPMENT OF PROJECT

Normally, people often revel in thoughts from their past and often think about what it must have felt like back when they had good times during their childhood and how they were able to feel so happy back then. Such elements often allow people to feel happier about their current times, even if it is a situation where people would normally stress out, panic, or even associate themselves with some other negative emotion However, by thinking about memories from the past, people are often able to overcome such negative emotions with positive ones. This is something that is definitely intriguing yet also mysterious at the same time.

The notion of such scenarios becoming intriguing is due to the fact that no one else has ever witnessed people change emotions so quickly in such little time due to an experience that they had felt over years in the past or even months back in the past. This desire to see how people would revel in such experiences without even reliving them in reality is a question that has been kept in mind for over ages. However, I was unable to see that this effect had long been under research so soon.

The question of nostalgia is also mysterious in the manner that it allows people to revisit old memories and feel them as if the memories were taking place in reality. This is absurd and certainly out of the question but people claim to have relived moments from their past and felt good about such moments. This is why nostalgia becomes so mysterious in its own way. The functioning of the brain, when nostalgia takes place, is also relevantly unchanged and that questions as to whether people actually feel anything, or just make it up to cover their own emotional outcomes, which might be negative in the situation that is associated to the time when such people experience nostalgia.

Furthermore, it also comes into question as to how nostalgia is associated with memory and how both connections bring out one combined outcome for the people who feel such emotions and experience such changes within their own mental state of being. It is also worth commending that nostalgia is not recorded in historical records that go back into the previous millenniums. Nostalgia has only become a question of the mind in recent times and indeed, nostalgia may not have been present in people of the past.

It could also be said that Nostalgia did exist in the past but many people were unable to associate it differently from other elements of the cognitive mind, such as memory or emotions. This is primarily because people back in old times did not have much different terminologies about cognitive mind functions, which would have allowed them to differentiate between emotions, memory, and nostalgia as it exists. It could also be said that perhaps people were too confused as to what the feeling of nostalgia really was in the old times since nostalgia does link emotions and memory with itself and is impossible to experience if one does not experience memory or emotions in the process.

However, Nostalgia did become important in recent times and that is where the development of this topic into my project became apparent. It came to attention that even though many people have researched upon nostalgia, much of them only repeat what has already been told and do not continue further on to provide a different analysis of some sort. It is also worth noting that Shen Congwen and Lao She are two prominent people who have associated themselves with nostalgia. Both of them have been acquire actively seen to research upon memory and nostalgia as well as the link between the two concepts as in modern times.

Still, the approach pertained by Lao She and Shen Congwen are inadequate and not spread widely enough to bring out a more appropriate result or a reveling though in the world of nostalgia. It is considerable to think that something, which can bring people into their own past and allow them to experience things that they had experienced years ago, while staying in a dormant state of the mind, is something that has to be researched more frequently and deeply as it may be able to reveal a lot of functions about the human mind in return. Another fact that is apparent in this manner is that nostalgia can most likely be associated with many different cognitive functions and may be able to change the entire perception of the way a brain is looked at as of now.

These new thoughts and developments about the project led me to believe that the project of nostalgia may not be as minor as one may have seen it to be. I might have only been researching little on Nostalgia up until it clicked to me that Nostalgia may be more than a simple feeling or emotion, and that maybe nostalgia is quite easily capable of bringing out severe and more permanent effects upon the brain.

Researching abut nostalgia becomes extremely important as it is not so frequently looked into and may not be able to provide a more brief detail of how nostalgia works or what triggers nostalgia. It is still not discovered as to why nostalgia is triggered and how it can be controlled by the human mind. People just feel nostalgia at times and are able to relate their feelings precisely, yet they are unable to tell as to what triggered their feelings of nostalgia and how these feelings began to rise all of a sudden. No common indicator of nostalgia has been found either and that just makes the concept of nostalgia more mysterious to the common man.

My interests developed and changed over time due to this thought of nostalgia becoming more and more elusive to the common world. First, I was only going to discuss as to what nostalgia was, how it occurs and what it feels like. When I began researching the three question, I realized that no one knew as to how nostalgia occurred. This is primarily because everyone was giving different answers in their own manner. No one was able to bring about a conclusion to how nostalgia occurs that could be related to the conclusion of another person. Many people were left blank when asked the question of how nostalgia occurs in them or what triggers it, with a few people saying, “We just don’t know”.

The thought of nostalgia becomes even scarier when I realize that I don’t know ho nostalgia occurs either or how it has occurred in so many people over time. When I began to research as to how nostalgia occurs, many theories that are widely brought upo in the world do not make much sense, as they are a definite researched outcome that is not evident or reliable in any manner.

Hence, I looked into the works of Lao She and Shen Congwen so as to understand more clearly as to what nostalgia is and why it occurs. In my perspective, both Lao She and Shen Congwen have contributed the most to the thought and terminology of Nostalgia. What is more frightening is the fact that both of these were not psychologists who could have been accurate about the concept of nostalgia. However, both Lao and Shen were able to deduce quite clearly as to what nostalgia is and connected it to memory in an instant, something which should have been reached and agreed upon way back in the past as people could have been intellectual enough to understand the phenomenon and link it with at least another cognitive element.

However, after realizing that much had been missed upon nostalgia and not discussed thoroughly, I decided to take up my topic of nostalgia and write own a paper that discusses as to what triggers nostalgia and how nostalgia can be triggered quite often without a delayed or negative response from the people who are experiencing this phenomenon, and are at least trying to experience it. This may not have been as easy as expected since there are a lot of invariable factors in triggering nostalgia, much of which do not make the slightest sense. Moreover, these invariable factors also vary from person to person, indicating that nostalgia might also be associated with behaviorism.

SITUATING THE AUDIENCE

Nostalgia is a terminology that many might not understand right away. This is because many people have been unfortunate to not have experienced nostalgia, and even if they have, they are unable to realize it because they have not studied the concept of nostalgia in the past. Furthermore, memory and emotions are terminologies that almost anyone in the world can understand and relate to. SO it becomes easier for the audience to understand most of what they are being told throughout the paper.

Memory holds a very important consensus during the paper and the approach towards nostalgia. This is because memory is deeply rooted and associated with Nostalgia, according to Shen and Lao. Both Lao and Shen agree that memory makes people revisit into old living experiences that have been performed or practiced in the past and cannot be repeated with the same date or people almost any other way. However, people do realize that memory is something that lasts with everyone and is a primal concept of learning and interpreting whatever information is relayed in the world. However, what nostalgia has in relevance to memory is the fact that nostalgia itself is part of someone’s memory. This is because without a distinct memory, nostalgia can never take place. This is also because nostalgia heavily depends upon the cognitive function of memory.

Moreover, everyone realizes what emotions are. However, most people do not realize as to how emotions can be manipulated or altered using special techniques and how emotions can vary from a person to another person over time, with emotions also carrying in terms of indicatrs and triggers. For example, a person may feel happy by getting a car as a present on his birthday. However, the same happy emotion cannot be witnessed for sure if the same person is gifted another car as a present for his next birthday. Therefore, the fact that nostalgia is able to create same emotions about a specific experience or memory over time without changing the person’s reaction to the emotion is something that is significant and needs to be understood more clearly.

This is part of what will be decisively discussed in the paper so as to bring a more opportunistic approach to the thought of nostalgia, in correlation with memory and emotions for individuals. The audience will be able to relate with much of what is being discussed simply because the terminologies, most of them, are now mainstream and can be easily understood throughout the world, even if much about them has not been discussed by people throughout the world. For example, almost everyone has heard the word memory and emotions in the world and can relate to what both terminologies are without learning much about the said terminologies.

However, the terminology of nostalgia might be able to cause problems to the audience as it is definitely not much popular in many parts of the world and is not something that happens to people every day, so it is most likely that the audience might get confused as to what nostalgia is or what is being referred to when the terminology of nostalgia comes into a sentence. With this thought kept in mind, it would be most wise to allow people to understand as to the concept of nostalgia within the beginning of the paper so that they can have a mere look at what nostalgia is when they begin to understand it in the paper.

Finally, it is also extremely important to situate the audience in understanding the fact that there definitely is a correlation between both memory and nostalgia as well as emotions as an outcome of the experienced nostalgia. The audience must be able to understand that nostalgia cannot occur without any piece or chunk of memory associated with it in the mind of a person who is experiencing such nostalgia. It is also imperative that a person understands that emotions do come out as a result of experiencing nostalgia.

RESEARCH FRAMEWORK

There are many questions that will go unanswered so as to keep the research as little complicated as possible. For example, the various questions that are associated with memory and emotions will not be discussed at all. This is because the research is primarily about the concept of nostalgia and how it can be triggered rather than about memory and how memory can be triggered or emotions and how emotions can be triggered. It would only complicate the research paper far more rapidly if memory and emotions are discussed as much as nostalgia.

Moreover, nostalgia is consistent with memory and emotions. So whenever nostalgia is defined in one way or the other, it is bound to occur that memory and emotions will also be mentioned and perhaps, they will also be defined to a certain extent. However, defining memory and emotions as much as nostalgia throughout the research would only make the importance of nostalgia seem little in comparison to memory and emotions. Keeping in mind that the importance of nostalgia for this research paper is far greater than the importance of memory and emotions in the paper, more must be written on nostalgia and less must be focused on memory and emotions. In this manner, the audience will also be able to relate a lot more to nostalgia than to memory and emotions, which is the basic purpose of this research.

Moreover, the sources that will be used in the research will primarily consist of work done by Shen Congwen and Lao She as they are two people that have done the most research on nostalgia and how it can be triggered as well as what are the effects of nostalgia upon the common man in natural lives. Both Shen Congwen and Lao She have been quite allocative of their work and have been quite resilient in matching nostalgia with the cognitive ability of memory. Moreover, both Shen and Lao have been able to bring out a decisive connection between the two cognitive functions, something that has never been done before.

Both Shen and Lao are also responsible for revitalizing the research carried toward the phenomenon of nostalgia and many psychologists, thereafter, have been trying to research upon it. Hence, it is definitely impossible to bring on more sources that do not consider both Lao She and Shen Congwen. I have also chosen these two writers as the primary sources for the research topic as their work comparatively focuses on nostalgia and memory and does not hinder into other elements, something which is focused upon by many other writers across the world.

Moreover, it is also important to stick with Shen Congwen and Lao She when it comes to the sources because the less the authors, the more narrow the research can be. If the research is narrower, it is inevitable that the research will bring out a more decisive result in the end and it will be easier to study the sources if they have been narrowed down. A wider and broader range of sources is much more difficult to handle and can also elude the basic purpose of the research. Hence, the less the merrier will be the case for sources in this research. It is also worth noting that if the research is taken into a broader aspect, the importance of nostalgia may become inferior to the concept of memory and with the inclusion of emotions based as the primary result of nostalgia and experiencing this phenomenon, the research may see complexity in its framework, unless the sources are kept at a minimum.

However, it is also important to note that nostalgia will be discussed briefly no matter how many sources are used. In light of this, it is also worth noting that memory will also be needed to be researched upon so as to give basis t the concept of nostalgia and allow people to understand as to what nostalgia is and how it was brought about as a cognitive function in the first place. Since nostalgia depends entirely on the basis of memory and includes the perception of memory deeply rooted within it, the concept must be backed up and reinforced with the concept of memory.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Firstly, Georgis (2013) looks upon the approach of memory in relation to the concept of nostalgia. This becomes quite more reprehensive so as to deduce and give a common background to the meaning of nostalgia in itself. Georgis has been known to implement a lot of studies in order to understand as to how memory lasts for so long and what neurological functions enable cognitive memory. The concept of sub consciousness and consciousness are also briefly discussed by Georgis in his work. This allows the work of Georgis to bring light to the concept of memory in a very strong fashion to nostalgia (Georgis, 2013). Georgis claims that Nostalgia may not be entirely independent from memory, even if the motions that nostalgia creates may vary from memory to memory or from emotion to emotion at different times of witnessing the same memory.

Georgis also argues that while nostalgia is directly associated with memory in one way or the other, nostalgia may not occur to every living being on the planet and varies upon the cognitive functions of individuals and how such cognitive functions activate within the particular individuals. Moreover, Georgis also claims that while memory can be controlled at particular times, nostalgia cannot be controlled and occurs on its own, without any indication that the experience of nostalgia is about to begin. Georgis also agrees to the fact that nostalgia can be very different from what people think it to be, as it always takes them back to moments that people want to relive over and over again.

The approach by Herman (2005) dictates that almost all people around the world have witnessed nostalgia in one way or the other. However, Herman brings a unique perception to the world f thought in nostalgia when he says that nostalgia is associated primarily with immigrants from around the world. Taking into notice that nostalgia is often the result of people trying to go back into the past where their moments were happy, this study has a lot of direction initiated within it, something that can also lead to the cause of what triggers nostalgia in many people around the world. Herman has also been detailed in his thought about how nostalgia is associated with immigrants and goes on to say that memory is something that is entirely the factor that tells whether nostalgia will occur or not to a person in question.

Furthermore, Herman is also able to acknowledge the fact that emotions are highly dependent on the memory that is being visited in the past through nostalgia and how this emotion can be directly associated with the way the person behaves or the way the person is feeling right before he experiences nostalgia. Herman argues that while nostalgia is quite common in people, especially immigrants, the triggers that activate nostalgia in the minds of people is something that many cannot understand and are unable to comprehend (Herman, 2005). Herman also argues that while many may claim that they know how to trigger nostalgia, such is not the case because Herman points out that nostalgia is associated with memory, and if people cannot control their memories, people cannot control how or when to activate the experience of nostalgia and when to deactivate the experience of nostalgia.

Oakes is an author that has been dominant with his literature over the effects of nostalgia upon people and how the experience of nostalgia has been able to affect people within minutes and how the emotions of such effects vary from individual to individual. In short, Oakes is one author that is quite motivated by findings and outcomes of nostalgia. He thinks that nostalgia is directly associated with memory and cannot be investigated without the concept of memory being investigated as well (Oakes, 1995). Furthermore, Oakes is a very profound follower of Shen Congwen, the mastermind behind the approach to nostalgia as it seems nowadays. Shen Congwen had researched Nostalgia when many people only experienced it but did not know what it was or why it occurred and how it occurred.

Many people still do not understand how nostalgia occurs and why it occurs but most of these problems were solved through the writing and interpretations of Congwen. Oakes (1995) stated that Shen Congwen knew everything that was to know about nostalgia and even knew how nostalgia was so connected most of the times with the concept of memory. However, Oakes (1995) also states that while Shen Congwen solved many of the problems associated with understanding nostalgia, he was unable to figure out as to what triggers nostalgia and how nostalgia is always associated with memory and why it is always associated with memory. Oakes, therefore, goes on to say that while Shen Congwen may have initiated the thought of nostalgia in the young minds of today, he was, like many others, unable to understand the triggers of nostalgia.

Finally, Towery (2011) discusses the effects of nostalgia in relevance to memory. Towery is a great fan of Lao She and has always been inspired by the work of Lao She on numerous occasions. Towery has coincided that while Lao She has been unable to find a more relative connection between the triggers of nostalgia and with the relevance of nostalgia to memory, Lao she has been quite productive in the manner that he was able to identify memory as the single factor that is directly associated to nostalgia and similar feelings of nostalgia. Towery also insists that while Nostalgia is an important phenomenon in the world, memory is more important in all circumstances. He says that if memory is understood well enough, anyone will be able to understand as to how nostalgia occurs, what triggers it and how it can be controlled from time to time.

Unfortunately, Towery has been unable to prove his hypothesis until now as he has been able to understand the concept of memory as deeply as possible, yet he has been unable to control nostalgia or even predict the triggers of nostalgia. However, Towery has coincided that Nostalgia may be the result of numerous triggers that can be accessed at any time and are directly inked with feelings and urges from different memories (Towery, 2011). However, Towery has not been able to bring about a more conclusive and detailed report on what these elements can be. He has simply divided different genres and kind of objects that can trigger nostalgia, ranging from emotional feelings as well as objects such as landscapes and locations to songs and events that held important memories for a particular person. While many of these objects do trigger nostalgia within a person, it is undoubtedly clear that these factors cannot always trigger nostalgia. Hence, Towery has been unable to find a conclusive end to his theory yet he has allowed people to understand what factors can be thought to be the triggers of nostalgia in the common man.

SOURCES

The sources that are going to be used in this research will primarily consist of peer reviewed articles, journal articles, and reports as well as studies that are all based on nostalgia. People with past experiences of nostalgia have mostly been recorded in reports and studies conducted by psychologists over time. These results can vary in their outcomes and direction yet they all share many common features, that can be a lot of help to the research of nostalgia in this paper.

The peer reviewed articles and journal articles relate these data into the minds of readers and expected audience in an easy and more appropriate way, allowing the understanding of nostalgia to become as easy as possible, in relevance with other terminologies that nostalgia is still associated with. Furthermore, the articles will also be able to provide a good guide as to how the information in relevance to nostalgia and its associated terminologies holds importance for the general public and how such information can be sued to bring a more subjective approach to the research on an overall basis.

The fact that nostalgia has seen very few studies means that the outcomes and results of such studies are definitely going to be limited and can be easily looked upon. That is why studies have become an integral part of nostalgia in this research paper and will be used so as to bring a new methodology concept for the paper itself while allow the information, derived from such studies, to hold importance in the research itself.

METHODOLOGY

The methodology that will be incorporated into the paper will be quite different from methodologies that have been used in recent researches upon nostalgia. Most people look at elements through which they can figure as to why nostalgia was triggered and how it was triggered, often coming to the same conclusion, which is the fact that they do not find any outcomes that can be proven to be beneficial for them. Hence, it is utmost important that the methodology brings out a decisive result.

In order to bring out a decisive result, it is necessary that the information be qualitative rather than be quantitative. Most studies that were conducted in the past upon the topic of nostalgia often included terms and factors that were quantitative and not qualitative in nature. Psychologists used questionnaires with simple yes or no answers as a form of methodology and others used surveys with simple yes and no answers so as to make the outcomes as quantitative as possible. However, this was bound to fail and it came as no surprise when no definite conclusions came into knowledge.

Hence, the answer to finding a successful methodology is simple. The methodology needs to be qualitative for a change in order to earn definitive outcomes as to what triggers nostalgia and how nostalgia occurs in the first place. This is because nostalgia and memory are cognitive abilities which cannot be deduced by quantitative data. They are deeply rooted cognitive abilities that need more than mere understanding to bring precision to results obtained in any relevance to such concepts.

Qualitative data is always bound to bring about deeply rooted answers as the people who are part of a qualitative methodology are asked questions in detail and are expected to answer back in brief detail just as well. This is because people know the importance of how much time it takes to conduct a research and how much freedom they are given to answer a question as appropriately as possible when the methodology is qualitative. People are allowed to express their own opinions and describe their feelings or particular answers in as much detail as possible. This allows people to feel more comfortable and relaxed about their particular questions. Therefore, the answers are mostly accurate and qualitative in nature, which allows the methodology to be successful in most cases.

For the case of nostalgia and what triggers nostalgia, the methodology needs to be qualitative as it will allow more deeply rooted answers to come to the surface. People would answer more briefly and would love the opportunity to let their own opinions be shared with psychologists over a particular problem. Moreover, a lengthier participation in a methodology allows people to feel more loyal to the cause of a methodology, enabling them to tell the truth rather than lie to most of the questions or answer at random. This plays a very important part in how people relate to the perception of nostalgia and how they accurate the outcomes of such a methodology can be.

Earlier, it was described as to how Towery (2011) was able to bring out a more conclusive set of information in relation to the factors that trigger nostalgia and when they trigger nostalgia. Towery had claimed that different kinds of emotional feelings about memories from the past and different set of music from the past is usually able to reflect a lot more on how nostalgia is triggered ad how it can be controlled. Even though Towery was not able to come to a decisive conclusion, his factors that may trigger nostalgia are quite important nevertheless.

The methodology that will be used for this paper will consist of many different factors that have a big part in triggering or initiating the feeling of nostalgia in one way or the other. These factors will be used as a part of the test that will be implemented upon the users and participants of the methodology. The triggering factors that will be sued, as mentioned by Towery in his article as well, will be different kind of music, ones that are quite liked by the participants. Each participant would be allowed to choose his own music. The music would not only act as a stimuli for the activation of nostalgia but will also be used to identify what importance it holds in terms of memory for the particular participant.

If participants are able to feel nostalgia through this music, it would become apparent that triggers of nostalgia would be found right away and that would be a very big finding to comprehend. Furthermore, if the triggers do not work, it will be understood that Towery’s studies were unreliable with unreliable factors given for triggering nostalgia, or the fact that nostalgia does not have any specific triggers at all.

Furthermore, regardless of whether or not the factors are accurate in triggering nostalgia among the participants, an interview will be held with all of the participants so as to understand what the participants felt and how they experienced nostalgia, if they were to experience nostalgia. If the participants did not feel nostalgia, no questions would be asked at all, since the interview is based primarily for participants that feel nostalgia, so that they can tell what they feel and why they feel particular emotions when experiencing nostalgia, and how they feel it in the first place.

Finally, the methodology also needs to elaborate as to what its motives are and the number of participants that would be used within the methodology as well. Hence, it comes to notice to define such features as well. The methodology would include a number of 20 or more participants so as to limit the methodology and be able to generalize the outcomes of nostalgia on all 20 participants. To keep the methodology unbiased, 10 males would be chosen as well as 10 females. This would keep the gender ratio at 1:1, which is enough to keep the study unbiased as well as allow the methodology to generalize the outcomes of nostalgia over both genders equally.

The number of participants is kept at 20 since the methodology should not take a lot of time and should be as adequate in terms of results as possible. When interviewing a participant, much time can be taken so as to reach a qualitative outcome with the particular participant. Hence, if there are more than 20 participants, the wastage of time could increase, especially if the results are quite identical in most of the participants. However, it also comes to notice that the questions need to be numbered and have to be as specific as possible in relation to the methodology and the topic of the methodology in question. Hence, o unnecessary questions need to be put in so as to receive unnecessary outcomes.

SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

The significance of study is the fact that many people experience nostalgia yet they are unable to determine as to how they were able to feel such nostalgia and why they were feeling such nostalgia. Moreover, people are also unable to determine as to what factors have been responsible in making them revisit their past and face memories that were used to make such people happy. The significance of nostalgia varies even further when looked upon closely.

This is why the importance of factors that trigger nostalgia have become so important in the world. With so many technological advancements, it still remains ambiguous as to what cause nostalgia among people and why nostalgia among people is caused at times when people least expect it. These questions have been asked for decades yet their answer has still remained inconclusive and indecisive just as they already are. This also encourages the topic to be take up again and discussed in another direction, a direction which has not been taken up by many people as of late.

The direction that will be picked upon nostalgia in this research is the fact as to how nostalgia is triggered among people and how these triggers can be brought to certainty. The direction is the first in relevance to nostalgia as it discusses several important factors that have been left untouched when discussing the topic of nostalgia. Only Towery (2011) discusses nostalgia and the factors that initiate it to some extent. Even he has only arrived at the conclusion that there are factors, such as songs and memories from the past, which engage a person in nostalgia and make him yearn to go back and live in the past, usually in scenarios which exhibit happiness more often than sadness.

Moreover, it is also important to understand that this direction has not been taken in the past since most people believe that nostalgia is one phenomenon that cannot be brought to a conclusive end. However, people have also ignored much of the reasons as to why nostalgia takes place simply because they are unable to understand the reasons that lie behind the wake of nostalgia and its ambitions as well as the many reasons as to why nostalgia takes place in human in the first place.

When it comes to the theme or ideology of nostalgia, many writers avoid any kind of contact in relevance to the ideology as they believe that nostalgia is a simple piece of human phenomenon that does not really exist. Hence, many writers take nostalgia as a form of memory that is not a different concept entirely and one that should not be taken seriously. However, such writers forget the fact that both nostalgia and memories have different characteristics among them and, therefore, both nostalgia and memory are different concepts, even if they are linked to one another and connect many similarities with one another.

The simple fact that memory does not bring varied emotions but nostalgia does bring varies emotions is enough to conclude that both concepts are different and both concepts should be approached in different manners. However, this is definitely not the case as many people are unable to find any similarities in the way they feel after revisiting a memory by their own choice and the way they feel after experiencing severe or minor nostalgia.

Some people are as crazy as can be in determining that nostalgia is a kind of disorder and not a concept that should be taken seriously. They say that it is an illness that needs to be taken care of and cured so they decide to study nostalgia in the manner so as to cure it and treat it rather than identify the factors linked with nostalgia and the outcomes that are brought by nostalgia. Moreover, how can something that brings happiness to a person be an illness in itself is a question that can never be answered.

Hence, this is the main reason as to why nostalgia does not seem to be of much importance to majority of the world nowadays. Yet, there are still people who research it because they are intrigued by it. This research is also the result of a similar notion and can be judged for similar causes. If the factors in triggering nostalgia are found, many people can experience nostalgia as they demand and whenever they want to, so as to allow them to feel happy at times when they might be stressed or depressed.
There are numerous reasons as to why nostalgia must be studied thoroughly and why it needs to be taken under larger consideration over the course of time.

It is also worth noting that nostalgia does not come from the theory of memory and has entirely different characteristics in some manners as well. For example, a memory is an event or a concept that was learnt or experienced ages ago or perhaps yesterday. However, using the same example, it can be said that nostalgia is the experience through which the person is able to relive the memory that he has about a certain event or certain period of time from his past. Hence, the characteristics of both nostalgia and memory are different yet very much alike, causing a lot of confusion for people, resulting in the manner that many people avoid researching nostalgia altogether, thinking that it is the same as memory.

Therefore, it becomes quite clear as to what is expected from nostalgia on a general basis and how this theory is presided in time for most readers. However, there are a lot of things about nostalgia that seem to be inaccurate, along with the concepts such as memory and nostalgia being the same thing. This is a misdirection that needs to be clarified. While most people think it is okay to link both memory and nostalgia with one another, some people take it too far by making both concepts seem the same and by proclaiming that both concepts, in fact, are the same rather than different.

CONCLUSION

Hence, the thesis of the research has been generally described in as many ways as possible. The approach of the research and the topic in question are well referenced, including a thorough literature review of how these approaches and concepts have become so popular over time and what else needs to be done so as to make these concepts seem more appropriate with time.

It is also brought under discussion as to how much research has already been done on this topic and what were the outcomes of the research. The literature review does this part perfectly and even highlights the issues that have been raised in trying to understand the topic over the past decades. It was also learnt as to how triggers of nostalgia have never been determined, which leads many people to question as to whether or not nostalgia can be controlled by individuals. The works of Lao She and Shen Congwen in relevance to the research were also brought about and directed throughout the paper in the manner that their approaches to memory and nostalgia were discussed briefly. Furthermore, it also allowed people to understand as to what nostalgia really was and how people had been experiencing it for ages without even understanding what it was that they were experiencing.   With this direction kept in mind, the research topic and the way its initiating factors would be the main approach of the research are defined. The methodology of the research, kept in relevance with the manner though which the methodology would be implemented, is also thoroughly discussed.

REFERENCES

Georgis, D. (2013). Memory and Migration: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Memory Studies. University of Toronto Quarterly, 485-487.

Herman, D. (2005). Yesterday’s Self: Nostalgia and the Immigrant Identity. Symploke, 360-362.

Oakes, T. S. (1995). Shen Congwen’s Literary Regionailsm And The Gendered Landscape of Chinese Minority. Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography, 93-107.

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