Evidence: Rather than strictly preserving historical accuracy, research participants create an “aesthetic of pastness,” where nostalgia is shaped through personal stories, domestic practices, and material interactions, ultimately finding the storytelling reinforces nostalgia by making the past feel present and emotionally resonant, but also heavily distorting historical realities to better romanticize the past, creating the phenomenon of nostalgia.

In-text Citation: “Nostalgia is the sensory experience of desire for something that is unnamable and unreachable, momentarily present in fleeting fragments.”

Connection to Claim: Nostalgia is not just about longing for the past, but engaging with it through storytelling and sensory experiences.

Evidence: Nostalgia can selectively highlight certain aspects of the past, leading to a distorted collective memory that serves ideological purposes. Such can reinforce specific collective identities while marginalizing others.

In-text Citation: “When nostalgia serves as an ideological instrument, it selectively highlights specific aspects of the past, potentially marginalizing others.”

“Nostalgia as a filtered emotion can distort the past when used as a political tool to consolidate collective identities.”

Connection to Claim: Storytelling, influenced by nostalgic sentiments, can shape collective memory and identity through memory selection, emphasizing certain aspects of the past, serving specific ideological pulses and ultimately affecting how communities perceive their history and themselves.

Ultimately, by critically engaging with the influence of storytelling on nostalgia and questioning the historical perspectives it perpetuates, we can open pathways toward a more diverse and accurate understanding of history. This approach is crucial for cultivating a more informed, nuanced, and reflective view of the past—one that allows for a broader range of perspectives while ensuring historical integrity is maintained.

Evidence: Brexit is not an isolated event but rather part of a historical cycle where nationalism resurges in response to globalization and functional democratization. It reflects a reconfiguration of interdependencies between the UK and the EU rather than a clean break

In-text Citation: “Nationalist belief and value systems in highly developed countries with relatively high standards of living are usually backward-looking creeds.”

“The fantasy image of a buccaneering Britain leading the ‘Anglosphere’ and the countries from its former empire is just that – a fantasy”

Connection to Claim: Nostalgia affects ever-changing history, but will always remain a romanticized fantasy. National identity is shaped by evolving stories that oscillate between inclusion and exclusion

Evidence: Russia’s geopolitical objectives are very heavily influenced by nostalgia for its Soviet past. It’s not just an abstract longing for the communist era, but a strategic tool used to consolidate domestic power to justify aggressive foreign policies. The desire to regain influence in former Soviet territories, the perception of the West as a threat, and the promotion of a specific national identity are all driven by a narrative rooted in Soviet pride and the memory of a more powerful Russia.

Paraphrase: The Kremlin’s strategic objectives are designed to reassert the authority of Russia over its former Soviet territories, partly based on a historical narrative that frames Russia’s loss of influence as a humiliation that must be corrected.

Connection to Claim: Nostalgia for the past is not merely a passive reflection of historical memory but an active driver of contemporary political and military strategy. The Soviet past is invoked strategically by Russia’s leadership to reinforce national pride, justify military actions, and resist Western influences.

Evidence: Storytelling within families plays a crucial role in transmitting nostalgia, often portraying the past in a way that aligns with the political and ideological positions of narrators.When memories are not explicitly verbalized, non-verbal elements carry nostalgic sentiments across generations. There are two conflicting narratives in Spain—commemorating Francoist Spain and seeking justice for victims. These narratives shape young Spaniards’ understanding of history.

In-text Citation: “Even when the transmission is silent or whispered, there is a transmission of memories and affect. Young people are leading marches in commemoration of Francoist heroes, holding monarchic flags with the eaglet, or leading demonstrations demanding that the victims are heard as they hold Republican flags.”

Connection to Claim: Sums up private storytelling between older generation and new generation in family, and how that leads to new perspectives in contemporary political movements.

Evidence: Storytelling plays a dual role—reinforcing nostalgia for the past by highlighting communal unity and shared values, but also challenges it by exposing complexities and exclusions within those idealized memories. Such stories can create senses of belonging, but also the division when contrasting “then” and “now” or when explaining what was previously omitted.

In-text Citation: “Oral historians tend to view the selectivity of memory narratives as part of normal and healthy processes through which individuals and groups compose self-identity, and are therefore more sympathetic to nostalgia.”

Connection to Claim: Describes the role of storytelling in shaping nostalgic narratives, specifically how individuals construct and share memories—ultimately both reinforcing the past through storytelling, but also allow such history to be open for critical reexamination.

Evidence: Indigenous storytelling does not only reinforce nostalgia for the past, but also offers a critical space to challenge and reinterpret the past. It allows for both continuity and change, where Indigenous people can engage with their history, including painful and traumatic events, while also maintaining sovereignty, identity, and cultural resilience.

In-text Citation: “The storied memories of Indigenous people have been assaulted through decades," by censoring out terrors they faced during colonization, including diseases, restriction of cultural practices, community separation, child abduction, and unwanted assimilation, which have all negatively impacted the intergenerational transmission of culture and memory.”

Connection to Claim: For the Indigenous, storytelling serves as a medium that facilitates the healing process and allows for the shaping of new narratives.

The same goes for in communist China, but limitations are far too heavy due to censorship

Evidence: Nostalgia for communist times is more strongly associated with dissatisfaction with the present, rather than positive memories of the past. Memories of the 1980s, a time full of economic crises and political upheaval, were the strongest predictors of nostalgia, challenging the expectation that the relatively stable 1970s period would’ve been more nostalgically recalled.

In-text Citation: “When asked to describe the PPR period to somebody who did not live through it, the most often mentioned positive aspects of life under communism were availability and stability of employment (26.2%), having enough money (16.4%), cooperation and not competition among people (11.9%), sense of general security and safety (10.6%), and the presence of social benefits, including easy access to free medical services (7.5%).”

“Overall, 13.5% participants used only negatively loaded terms such as hard life, greyness, poverty, emptiness, and so on.”

Connection to Claim: Narratives about the past, especially those that emphasize positive aspects during difficult periods, can contribute to a longing for bygone eras. Acknowledging present challenges may also intensify nostalgic sentiments, suggesting that storytelling can both reflect and shape collective emotions about the past.

Evidence: The Mnemonic Warriors promote a highly selective and glorified version of Russian history, emphasizing patriotism and national unity.The Cosmopolitan Intellectuals attempt to introduce critical perspectives but face significant resistance due to state control over media and education.

In-text Citation: “The Cosmopolitan Intellectuals seek to expose the constructed nature of these narratives, arguing that history should be a space for critical injury rather than blind reverence.”

Connection to Claim: Ultimately, storytelling is a battleground for shaping public memory, with the state using historical myths to reinforce national identity while intellectuals struggle to present a more nuanced historical narrative.

Evidence: Lucasfilm uses transmedia storytelling to construct a coherent and controlled cultural memory of Star Wars, reinforcing a specific nostalgic view of its history. “Fanboy historians” play a role in perpetuating Lucasfilm’s preferred narrative, while alternative fan-made histories challenge or complicate this nostalgia. Storytelling in contexts such as these serve as both tools for reinforcing nostalgia and for excluding narratives that do not fit the official canon.

In-text Citation: “Lucasfilm’s production of nonfiction media mirrors the strategies of transmedia storytelling in the realm of fiction.”

Connection to Claim: Addresses contemporary forms of storytelling, and how that has impacted the perception of the history being told.

Evidence: Collective memory significantly shapes postwar German foreign policy, its influence has weakened in recent decades. Germany is now a normalized global power, balancing historical responsibility with real political considerations. There is a shift toward pragmatic decision-making rather than memory-based moral imperatives.

In-text Citation: “It has been a long time since any major politician has used a memory-based argument to make, let alone win, a political point in a major policy debate outside of explicit commemorations or anniversaries.”

Connection to Claim: Germany now balances historical responsibility with real political considerations.

Evidence: While there is a degree of civic engagement, significant challenges such as low trust and limited public awareness continue to persist. Final conclusions suggest that in order to achieve a more active, informed, and nationalistic society, politicians need to address these shortcomings beforehand.

In-text Citation: “There are large-membership bodies, like trade unions or youth organizations, but for the most part these are controlled by elites or are benefit-distributing services (for example, veterans’ associations).”

Connection to Claim: Addresses how narratives and collective memories within societies such as these with a strong background influence nostalgia for the past, and how to solve civic engagement issues to promote an active community

Evidence: The Chinese government strategically employs storytelling to create a nostalgic longing for a “golden age” of national unity and strength. State controlled media reinforces such nostalgia by glorifying historical figures and selectively remembering events. Due to the heavy censorship in communist China, individuals who challenge such publicly accepted narratives are quickly shut down.

In-text Citation: “By framing the past as a time of unity and strength, the state fosters nostalgia that reinforces its legitimacy in the present.”

Connection to Claim: State narratives in China actively shape public memory to serve present-day political objectives. However, digital storytelling opens up opportunities to contest these official versions of the past, illustrating the dual role of narrative in shaping collective nostalgia.