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Andrew Smith's avatar

For what it's worth, etymology lessons are always appreciated.

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KA Semënova's avatar

I think the the degree of “algia” in nostalgia is a function of distance — geographical, chronological, historical. For emigres & exiles, probably most famously Nabokov, the impossibility of return to place is central but even if he could have gotten to St. Petersburg, say, the pre-1917 world he was born in was gone.

But time itself can do some of that too. I’m approaching 60 & working on a memoir, so I’m brought up short sometimes when I’m writing about my childhood. Not because of my toys or tv shows or whatever, but by the aunts & uncles, friends & neighbors who are gone now, & so are many of the places they lived & worked too. It can produce a very weird sensation, as if I’m looking at a vanished civilization.

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