Subj: Nostalgia and American Values
Nostalgia in America
We just saw an interesting survey of the impact of nostalgia on
our Academic Discussion List. I feel obliged to make a few remarks
about the issue during the attitude adjustment hour.
First, I would refer folks to my book about Will Rogers and
my film about his views of the 1920s. The basis of the humor of
Will Rogers was the tension between the (perceived) coherence of old
values of the 19th century and the (apparently perceived) chaos of the
present. Millions of Americans in his times (1916-1935 for his era as
a spokesman) were in tune with that perception and this focus accounts
for his popularity.
Concurrently, the entire mindset of the _Saturday Evening Post_
was focused on this backward glance. Long ago, in an article on the
SEP, I marvelled over the contrast between the retrospective glance of
the fiction and editorials as contrasted with the advertisements about
starched collars, running water, automobiles, typewriters, etc. _SEP_
clearly reflected a dual mentality--on the one hand it celebrated the
past; at the same time, readers were clearly delighted with all of the
benefits of "progress."
So I came up with the theory that Americans have to deal with
change: we love change and we thrill with mobility, yet we feel guilty
about it and we have to pay obeisance to the past--to include our
parents and the life-style that they lived. Therefore, we cannot ADMIT
that we are happy with new values; we must enjoy the changes while we
feel guilty about what we have accepted into our lives.
Will Rogers treated the issue with humor. F. Scott Fitzgerald
treated it with ambivalence. Hemingway simply could not deal with the
tension, so he focused on death and violence. Faulkner filtered the
topic with gothic fantasy: the guilt was simply too much for him against
the pattern of an imagined Southern past.
My point is that the issue of nostalgia is too important to be
left to _The National Journal_. We are still fascinated by the expulsion
of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. Every American film and novel
about Vietnam stresses the "loss of innocence." Indeed, the metaphor of
"loss of innocence" is based upon a sub-text of nostalgia--we look back
to a purer, more coherent time.
I had a real problem with Mr. Starobin's article on nostalgia
since he used it as a brickbat with which to batter to stupidity,
backwardness of the present and the benightedness of the American
past. That kind of writing makes for punch in journalism, but it makes
for bad cultural studies.
Our task is to sympathize and understand--then judge. Investigatin
the issue of nostalgia requires a complex understanding. How can we go
forward without causing tension with our past values? How do we accept
the changes of the present without being disloyal to the past? These are
the questions Americans have asked--and answered--as they have adjusted,
effectively and ineffectively, to a society geared for constant change.
Our job as students of Popular Culture and American Culture is
not to laugh or scorn, but to understand and to transcend--and, when
possible, to share our finding with our fellow citizens.
Peter Rollins
Oklahoma State University
Rollins@osuunx.ucc.okstate.edu