The cultural potential of longing. Some philological reflections
Anna Majkiewicz
a.majkiewicz@ujd.edu.plJan Dlugosz University in Częstochowa (Poland)
Joanna Ławnikowska-Koper
Jan Dlugosz University in Częstochowa (Poland)
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to shed light on the (semantic, cultural) meanings implied by the word "longing" in a diachronic and synchronic perspective. Starting from the original meanings of the noun "longing" in Proto-Slavic, the authors aim to demonstrate that longing as a philosophical concept was first constituted in the Judeo-Christian tradition and that its basis was the idea of the imperfection of the human condition and the consequent striving for the ideal. With reference to the typology of nostalgia proposed by the Russian-American cultural theorist Svetlana Boym, two types of longing (restorative and reflexive) are distin-guished, the criterion for their separation being localisation of the object of longing on the time axis: past-future. The researchers argue that today we are dealing with an omnipresent longing, which on the one hand is due to the worrying situation in the world (e.g. the war in Ukraine) and, on the other hand, to the general tendency of today's world, i.e. the impossibility of reaching a state of fulfilment. The creative reflection of contemporary writers on experienced and/or expected loss ultimately confirms the cultural potential of the concept of longing.
Keywords:
Svetlana Boym, longing, restorative longing, reflective longingReferences
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Joanna Ławnikowska-KoperJan Dlugosz University in Częstochowa Poland
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