A Linguistic Analysis of Nostalgia in The Retreat, Piano, and Tintern Abby
Prof. Dr. Suhayla H. Majeed Assist. Prof.Dr. Lanja A. Dabbagh
English Department, College of Languages, Salahaddin University- Hawler
[email protected], [email protected]
Abstract
Nostalgia is one of the most noted characteristics in English literature. Generally, nostalgia reflects the situation that one already has lost the loved past or object, but tries to reproduce the loved past in order to be with the objects again. It is not the location that generates the nostalgic effect. It is rather the harmonious relationships that are brought back and rendered even more ideal as they are at the same time reiterated as things gone and lost forever. Nostalgia deals with the relationships among individuals and human and nature. As such, nostalgic events involve psychological distance which are construed with abstract terms. They are also construed with concrete terms as they reflect relevance to the present or psychological proximity. Nostalgic, ordinary, and positive recollections, as well as distance of pertinent events in time and location are expressed through words and expressions. Recollections of nostalgic events include a great number of abstract terms and higher level construal while entailing concrete elements linking past to present. The unique consequences of nostalgic recollections in terms of affect, including a sense of authenticity are the themes of the selected poems in the present study. The aim of the study is to identify the terms and expressions used in the selected poems and how they manage to convey the poets’ unusual and meaningful memories that are preserved, if not idealized, across time. The study is an attempt to deal with the topic of nostalgia by using linguistic analysis.
Key Words: Nostalgia, Language, recollections, memories.
doi:10.23918/vesal2021v1