“Nostalgia for the Future”, past Expectations in the Non-experience of the Present

Abstract

Starting from the apparently contradictory expression “nostalgia for the future”, in this article we delve into the analysis of the complex net of temporal tensions that underlie human experience, specifically under the colouring of the nostalgic mood. We will try to analyse the interdependence relations that the different temporal horizons keep, specifically in the nostalgic experience and in the original experience to which it refers and which is a matter of evocation. In this context, we will accentuate the role of expectations, and their influence on the “future” emergence of nostalgic mood, a role that, even when they act preconsciously, is essential to understand the sense of loss of familiarity felt by those who see such pretensions unfulfilled.