Abstract
The paper is an investigation of nostalgia in its diverse manifestations in social media, mainly Facebook, during COVID-19 crisis in Bulgaria and is based on pre-observation which shows that communication through social media at that period was largely nostalgic. The study considers nostalgia as a strategy for dealing with the 2020 state of emergency during which the lack of physical contact and social experiences can create preconditions for anxiety, depression and fear leading to traumatic consequences. The research is based on empirical material actively collected using the method of the included observation in the period from the 15th of March 2020, when the state of emergency in connection with COVID-19 was declared in Bulgaria, until the 30th of June 2020. The purpose of the paper is to present the nostalgic modes in Facebook and to reveal the reasons for their success as communicative and social messages. Applying interdisciplinary and multimodal approach the study describes the nostalgic manifestations by classifying thematically the initiatives, communication strategies and topics, oriented towards the past, as well as revealing their meaning for the society. The results show that the main role of nostalgic Facebook modes is to unite people in times of isolation, to raise their spirit and thus save them from the traumas that the COVID-19 crisis can cause. The multimodal analysis of the Facebook images from the empirical data confirms that social media and modern technologies make it possible to create `new products` based on old stories or memories that acquire a new meaning in the specific COVID-19 situation, modelled by the culture and mentality of Bulgarians in isolation.
Highlights
The concept of nostalgia has become very popular in the last decade, and the observations show that its influence at the time of crises increases
Nostalgia is broadly used as a manipulative means by PR specialists, politicians, etc. (Padareva-Ilieva & Todorova, 2016), it has been used as a means of overcoming the psychological consequences of the isolation, anxiety and trauma during the COVID-19 crisis since the beginning of March 2020 because of its potential to bond with others (Niemeyer & Wentz, 2014, p. 129), to increase optimism and to mobilise people for action (FioRito & Routledge, 2020)
Simultaneously with the calls Stay home, it could save lives, other calls appeared on social media – To be healthy with poetry, We will cope together, as well as campaigns such as The Challenge Accepted, Memories in time of quarantine – all of them we consider as opportunities for dealing with the situation, having in mind that the state of emergency and physical isolation put the people in Bulgaria in front of a challenge that they had not faced so far
Summary
The concept of nostalgia has become very popular in the last decade, and the observations show that its influence at the time of crises increases. As is known, “[t]he word “nostalgia” comes from two Greek roots: νόστος, nóstos (“return home”) and ἄλγος, álgos (“longing”)[...] In spite of its Greek roots, the word “nostalgia” did not originate in ancient Greece [...]The word was coined by the ambitious Swiss student Johannes Hofer in his medical dissertation in 1688.” (Boym, 2001). It could be seen as a negative phenomenon (for example, Abramov, Chestiakova, 2012), as it “fuelled populism and nationalist identity politics” The positive consequences of nostalgia have been investigated (Sedikides, 2015; Sedikides & Wildschut, 2016, etc.). Kalinina (2016, p. 11) makes an overview of the research of different investigators, who consider that nostalgia is a way for easier crossing through difficult times and concludes that
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