Abstracts
Abstract
Nostalgia conjures the past, but what does it mean to be nostalgic for a future time? This article develops a theoretical model for a critical nostalgia for the future, one that sets both past and future at a temporal remove from the present, exposing both the longing and the impossible distance—the pain (algia)—that lies at the heart of all nostalgias. Using a case study on The Time Machine (George Pal, 1960), this article examines how to address three temporal problems that arise from nostalgias for the future, which seemingly lead to a regressive and deterministic model of futurity. Through a present-bound perspective and anachronistic logic, this film demonstrates how nostalgia for the future can reflexively reveal nostalgia’s inbuilt sense of distance, in order to unsettle linear and teleological conceptions of time and to open the possibility of an unwritten future.
Résumé
La nostalgie évoque le passé, mais que signifie être nostalgique d’un temps futur ? Cet article développe un modèle théorique pour une nostalgie critique pour l’avenir, qui place le passé et le futur à l’écart temporel du présent, exposant à la fois le désir et l’impossible distance – la douleur (algie) – qui se trouve au coeur de toutes les nostalgies. À travers une étude de cas du film The Time Machine (George Pal, 1960), cet article cherche comment aborder trois problèmes temporels qui découlent de la nostalgie du futur, qui conduisent apparemment à un modèle régressif et déterministe de l’avenir. À travers une perspective liée au présent et une logique anachronique, ce film montre comment la nostalgie du futur peut révéler par réflexe le sentiment de distance inhérent à la nostalgie, afin de déstabiliser les conceptions linéaires et téléologiques du temps et d’ouvrir la possibilité d’un futur non écrit.
Appendices
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