March 13, 2024: NeMLA Reflections: My Panel on Nostalgia & the 50s

[This pastweekend I attended the one scholarly conference I never miss: the Northeast MLA. It was agreat time as it always is, so as usual here’s a seriesof reflections on some of the great work I heard, saw, and shared there! Leadingup to a few more reflections on NeMLA as an organization!]

On threetakeaways from VaughnJoy’s excellent panel on “nostalgic extremism” on which I was lucky enoughto speak.

1)     The Compelling Concept: I’ve thought a lotover the last decade or so about the role that nostalgia plays in contemporarypolitical narratives like “I want my country back!”and “MakeAmerica Great Again,” and since my dissertation/first book my most definingoverarchingscholarly interest has been in our collective visions of the past. Butthere’s always more to think about and add into my sense of these topics, and Vaughn’sconcept of nostalgic extremism represents a particularly well-developed andhelpful perspective on those questions, especially when it comes to idealized visionsof the 1950s specifically in late 20th & early 21stcentury American culture and society. I look forward to spending a lot moretime diving into all the ways this concept can help illuminate both individual culturalworks, broader social and political debates, and our overall narratives of pastand present alike.

2)     My Complex Connection: For this panel, Iapplied that concept to an analysis of my favorite film, John Sayles’masterpiece LoneStar (1996; SPOILERS in that hyperlinked post, as there were in myNeMLA talk as well). Most of the flashbacks at the heart of Sayles’ 1990s filmfocus on 1950s histories, and more exactly on an extremely nostalgically celebratedfigure from that earlier era, Sheriff Buddy Deeds. But as I thought about whatthis 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 learnsabout his father and the past both challenge some nostalgic myths yet also makethe case for embracing others if they can help protect more vulnerable membersof the community. Which is to say, I’d argue that there are distinct varieties ofnostalgia, likepatriotism, and that some are likewise more critical and constructive thanothers.

3)     Our Continuing Conversations: Besides Vaughnas chair and my talk, the panel also featured two other papers, WilliamMagrino on the Back to the Futurefilms and EleanorRambo on the 21st century Russian musical (about a 1950ssubculture) Stylyagi.Each offered a unique lens on the 50s, nostalgia, and late 20th andearly 21st century cultural works, but what was most interesting tome was the way that all three of our papers, as well as Vaughn’s concept andintroduction, intersected around questions of where and how we can trace aswell as challenge idealized visions of the past, from a fictional suburbancommunity like HillValley to the unique and striking Russian trend known as “bone records” to theconnections between familial and civic myths in Sayles’ film. As I’ve thoughtabout throughout my career, narratives of the past are created and challengedin specific cultural conversations, and this panel helped me and all of usthink through particular versions of that trend.

Nextreflection tomorrow,

Ben

PS. If youwere at NeMLA, what would you share? If not or in any case, other organizationsyou’d highlight?