Port of Emotions: Nostalgia in Harbor-Side Reminiscences

Abstract

Abstract This article takes a peek at the freight ports of Helsinki and Kotka on Finland's south coast as they are depicted in reminiscences of the extended 1950s. The article is mainly based on interviews of harbor-side professionals such as dock laborers, their bosses, crane drivers, and customs officers. According to cultural historian Hannu Salmi (1999), the nostalgic longing is for the strong emotions rather than for the past in itself. I find this statement plausible, and it will be a hypothesis for this article. I intend to explore the mixed, bittersweet emotions that are linked to nostalgic reminiscence, the connection between nostalgia and memories reflecting different phases of life and, to some extent, multisensory experiences. Nostalgia also produces negative, or at least nebulous emotions. It is as if the warp of emotions in nostalgic reminiscence is positive, but some of the weft may be negative. The plot of the reminiscences was the same throughout the sources: things were different in the extended 1950s, people were different, and the emotional landscape was different. For the interviewees, the past was not a foreign country, but a long-lost landscape of mixed emotions.