Yesterday's Self: Nostalgia and the Immigrant Identity

(Paperback)

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The state of being called nostalgia has a history fraught with ambiguity and poetical connotation. In the late-17th century, nostalgic reminiscences were thought to be the symptoms of a deadly disease that shook one's mind and body. Today, we view nostalgia not as a medical condition, but as a bittersweet recollection of one's past joys and sorrows - the memories and treasures of an earlier self. However, there remains a category of individuals for whom such recollections can be seriously problematic: immigrants. In this text, Andreea Ritivoi explores the philosophical and historical dimensions of nostalgia in the lives of immigrants, forging a connection between current trends in the philosophy of identity and intercultural studies. The work considers such questions as: does attachment to one's native culture preclude or merely influence adaptation into a new culture; do we fashion our identity in interdependence with others, or do we shape it in a non-contingent frame; and is it possible to assimilate in an unfamiliar world without risking self-alienation Ritivoi's response is that nostalgia is both the poison and the cure in such situations. Documenting the tribulations of sojourners and immigrants, the text shows how and why the cultural adjustment of immigrants can only happen when personal identity is understood as a quest for continuity in one's life story, even alongside the most radical cultural rupture. Ultimately, reflection on the nostalgic experience reveals insights into the nature of the self and its dynamic engagement with otherness and difference.

Reviews

Ritivoi's insights in Yesterday's Self are brilliant, groundbreaking, and profoundly correct. I am especially impressed with her literally beautiful and beautifully literary use of personal stories. One doesn't usually find such sensitivity or rich description in discussions of identity, at least not in philosophical discussions. -- Thomas E. Wren, Loyola University, Chicago
In this interesting and well-written book, Ritivoi makes a significant contribution to our understanding of immigration, memory, and nostalgia. * Sociology *
Yesterday's Self offers a lively and profound investigation of a slippery condition that is nonetheless ubiquitous in this age of mobility and displacement. It is a great pleasure to read a scholarly inquiry that is readable, lively, and fresh. Ritivoi has brought into English, with scholarly brio, the Romanian word 'dor,' and given it an amplitude that it never had beyond its balkan world. -- Andrei Codrescu, NPR columnist and editor of the online literary journal Exquisite Corpse

Author Bio

Andreea Deciu Ritivoi is assistant professor of English and rhetoric at Carnegie Mellon University. She has previously published The Tale of a Lost City: Demolished Homes in Bucharest and The Other as Myself: Essays on Personal Identity.