[This past weekend I attended the one scholarly conference I never miss: the Northeast MLA. It was a great time as it always is, so as usual here’s a series of reflections on some of the great work I heard, saw, and shared there! Leading up to a few more reflections on NeMLA as an organization!]
On three
takeaways from Vaughn
Joy’s excellent panel on “nostalgic extremism” on which I was lucky enough
to speak.
1)
The Compelling Concept: I’ve thought a lot
over the last decade or so about the role that nostalgia plays in contemporary
political narratives like “I want my country back!”
and “Make
America Great Again,” and since my dissertation/first book my most defining
overarching
scholarly interest has been in our collective visions of the past. But
there’s always more to think about and add into my sense of these topics, and Vaughn’s
concept of nostalgic extremism represents a particularly well-developed and
helpful perspective on those questions, especially when it comes to idealized visions
of the 1950s specifically in late 20th & early 21st
century American culture and society. I look forward to spending a lot more
time diving into all the ways this concept can help illuminate both individual cultural
works, broader social and political debates, and our overall narratives of past
and present alike.
2)
My Complex Connection: For this panel, I
applied that concept to an analysis of my favorite film, John Sayles’
masterpiece Lone
Star (1996; SPOILERS in that hyperlinked post, as there were in my
NeMLA talk as well). Most of the flashbacks at the heart of Sayles’ 1990s film
focus on 1950s histories, and more exactly on an extremely nostalgically celebrated
figure from that earlier era, Sheriff Buddy Deeds. But as I thought about what
this new concept could help me analyze in this most-familiar film, I realized that
(without getting into as many spoilers here) what its protagonist Sam Deeds learns
about his father and the past both challenge some nostalgic myths yet also make
the case for embracing others if they can help protect more vulnerable members
of the community. Which is to say, I’d argue that there are distinct varieties of
nostalgia, like
patriotism, and that some are likewise more critical and constructive than
others.
3)
Our Continuing Conversations: Besides Vaughn
as chair and my talk, the panel also featured two other papers, William
Magrino on the Back to the Future
films and Eleanor
Rambo on the 21st century Russian musical (about a 1950s
subculture) Stylyagi.
Each offered a unique lens on the 50s, nostalgia, and late 20th and
early 21st century cultural works, but what was most interesting to
me was the way that all three of our papers, as well as Vaughn’s concept and
introduction, intersected around questions of where and how we can trace as
well as challenge idealized visions of the past, from a fictional suburban
community like Hill
Valley to the unique and striking Russian trend known as “bone records” to the
connections between familial and civic myths in Sayles’ film. As I’ve thought
about throughout my career, narratives of the past are created and challenged
in specific cultural conversations, and this panel helped me and all of us
think through particular versions of that trend.
Next
reflection tomorrow,
Ben
PS. If you
were at NeMLA, what would you share? If not or in any case, other organizations
you’d highlight?
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