From the presence of absence to the absence of presence: Violence and the practical consequences of nostalgia in Guatemala City
From the presence of absence to the absence of presence: Violence and the practical consequences of nostalgia in Guatemala City
Ethnography, Ahead of Print.
Nostalgia can provide its protagonists with a powerful counterweight against the force of the now. Building on the creative potential of the imagination, it owes much of its strength to the fact that there are few forces out there that can stop someone from unshackling the past from its contradictions, injustices and ills and projecting these images onto the present. This article revolves around the tension between nostalgic remembrance and individual strategies for navigating security in Guatemala City’s context of wild and out-of-control violence. It shows that nostalgia can cause people to fail to recognize risk, just as it can hinder their ability to deal with risk when it is recognized as such. Until now, ethnographers have largely failed to engage with the psychological mechanisms behind nostalgia and, much like nostalgics themselves, have overlooked its practical risks.
Nostalgia can provide its protagonists with a powerful counterweight against the force of the now. Building on the creative potential of the imagination, it owes much of its strength to the fact that there are few forces out there that can stop someone from unshackling the past from its contradictions, injustices and ills and projecting these images onto the present. This article revolves around the tension between nostalgic remembrance and individual strategies for navigating security in Guatemala City’s context of wild and out-of-control violence. It shows that nostalgia can cause people to fail to recognize risk, just as it can hinder their ability to deal with risk when it is recognized as such. Until now, ethnographers have largely failed to engage with the psychological mechanisms behind nostalgia and, much like nostalgics themselves, have overlooked its practical risks.