Twenty-Two Centuries of Nostalgia in Classical Chinese Poetry Flashcards
(23 cards)
What is nostalgia?
A sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past.
Defined in The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998)
What are the central features of nostalgia?
- Emotion stemming from fondly reflecting on meaningful memories
- Involvement of social relationships
- Connection to childhood or youth
- Presence of memorabilia or keepsakes.
Identified through prototype analyses in U.K. and U.S. samples (Hepper et al., 2012)
What are peripheral features of nostalgia?
- Less cognitively accessible properties of nostalgia
Identified through prototype analyses; details can be found in relevant literature.
What triggers nostalgia?
- Objects or events from childhood
- Momentous life events
- Close relationships
- Visual stimuli
- Tastes, scents, songs
- Inclement weather
- Subjective states like loneliness and boredom.
Triggers documented in both Western and Chinese samples (Hepper et al., 2024)
What are the psychological benefits of nostalgia?
- Social connectedness
- Meaning in life
- Self-continuity
- Future orientation
- Self-regard
- Happiness/wellbeing.
Benefits established in various studies, including Chinese samples (Hepper et al., 2024)
How is nostalgia typically perceived in terms of affect?
Nostalgic narratives entail more positive than negative affect.
Supported by research in both Western and Chinese samples.
Why is classical Chinese poetry significant for studying nostalgia?
- Essential to Chinese cultural tradition
- Expresses individual and collective emotions
- Contains a common nostalgia motif.
The genre huái jiù shī (怀旧诗) focuses on reminiscing about the past.
What is the role of coders in the study?
Coders read, summarized, and coded poems based on definitions of nostalgia.
Disagreements among coders were resolved through discussion.
What criteria were used to code poems as nostalgic?
If the poem reflected the poet’s longing for their own past or personal nostalgia.
Historical nostalgia was coded as non-nostalgic.
Fill in the blank: Nostalgia is commonly triggered by _______.
[external stimuli and subjective states]
True or False: Nostalgia is primarily associated with negative emotions.
False
What is defined as social connectedness in the context of nostalgia?
A sense of bonding or closeness with others
How is meaning in life defined in relation to nostalgia?
A sense that life is worth living or valuable
Which feature’s average rank was higher in nostalgic poems, central or peripheral?
Central features
What was the most frequent trigger of nostalgia identified in the poems?
Visual stimuli
Which benefit of nostalgia was most frequently identified in the poems?
Social connectedness
What historical perspective on nostalgia was presented by Johannes Hofer?
He viewed nostalgia as a medical disease
How does the historical view of nostalgia in Chinese culture differ from that in Western culture?
It has been viewed positively across the ages in Chinese culture
Fill in the blank: The average rank of central features in nostalgic poems was _______.
14.17
True or False: The emotional valence of nostalgia in the poems was predominantly negative.
False
What did the study conclude about the triggers of nostalgia in classical Chinese poetry?
They resembled those identified by recent literature
What is one limitation acknowledged in the study regarding the analysis of nostalgic poems?
Only poems containing the term huái jiù were retrieved
What alternative approach is suggested for future research on nostalgia in poetry?
Analyze other forms of ancient Chinese literature
