The Future of Nostalgia

By Svetlana Boym,

Book cover of The Future of Nostalgia

Book description

Combining personal memoir, philosophical essay, and historical analysis, Svetlana Boym explores the spaces of collective nostalgia that connect national biography and personal self-fashioning in the twenty-first century. She guides us through the ruins and construction sites of post-communist cities-St. Petersburg, Moscow, Berlin, and Prague-and the imagined homelands of exiles-Benjamin, Nabokov,…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The Future of Nostalgia as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I met Svetlana in the last two years of her life and was deeply impressed by her brilliance in literature and the history of ideas and cultures. She died, tragically, in her mid 50s cutting short her extraordinary career, from childhood and youth in Soviet Russia to her stellar career as a Harvard professor of comparative literature. Of her seven books, this highly original study of nostalgia has been particularly important.

A ground breaking study about longing in its positive and negative forms, focusing on post-communist cities such as St. Petersburg, Moscow and Berlin, and writers Nabokov, Brodsky, and Kabakov. Erudite, brilliant,…

From Judith's list on anthology that bring sources to light.

If you love The Future of Nostalgia...

Ad

Book cover of Grand Old Unraveling: The Republican Party, Donald Trump, and the Rise of Authoritarianism

Grand Old Unraveling By John Kenneth White,

It didn’t begin with Donald Trump. When the Republican Party lost five straight presidential elections during the 1930s and 1940s, three things happened: (1) Republicans came to believe that presidential elections are rigged; (2) Conspiracy theories arose and were believed; and (3) The presidency was elevated to cult-like status.

Long…

Want books like The Future of Nostalgia?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Future of Nostalgia.

Browse books like The Future of Nostalgia

Book cover of Kafka: I Am a Memory Come Alive: Autobiographical Writings
Book cover of Walter Benjamin: A Critical Life
Book cover of Martin Buber: A Life of Faith and Dissent

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,586

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

📚 If you like The Future of Nostalgia, you might also like...

An Italian Feast By Clifford A. Wright,

Book cover of An Italian Feast: The Celebrated Provincial Cuisines of Italy from Como to Palermo

An Italian Feast celebrates the cuisines of the Italian provinces from Como to Palermo. A culinary guide and book of ready reference meant to be the most comprehensive book on Italian cuisine, and it includes over 800 recipes from the 109 provinces of Italy's 20 regions.

An Italian Feast is…

Benghazi! A New History of the Fiasco that Pushed America and its World to the Brink By Ethan Chorin,

Book cover of Benghazi! A New History of the Fiasco that Pushed America and its World to the Brink

Benghazi: A New History is a look back at the enigmatic 2012 attack on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya, its long-tail causes, and devastating (and largely unexamined) consequences for US domestic politics and foreign policy. It contains information not found elsewhere, and is backed up by 40 pages of…

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in modernity, memory, and Moscow?

Modernity 55 books
Memory 103 books
Moscow 57 books