Meaning of anemoia | Babel Free

Definitions

Nostalgia for a time or a place one has never known.

neologism, uncommon, uncountable

Examples

“Yet, from reboots to genre revivals, nostalgia remains a powerful force in pop culture. So does an associated phenomenon, called anemoia, which is essentially nostalgia for a past you’ve never experienced. Nostalgia and anemoia have been Broadway’s bread and butter for decades.”

“Goetzman (who also records his own own^([sic]) original music under the alias Raspberries and Rum) brought up another idea as a possible explanation for his Toto-based virality: anemoia. That’s the concept of a person feeling nostalgic for something they never experienced.[…]What I can say is this little video and its embedded nostalgia — or anemoia — seems to be bringing a little happiness to people all over the world.”

“A White Christmas is the perfect example of anemoia, nostalgia for a time we never knew.”

“The theme of that YouTube chat was the idea of anemoia, a niche form of nostalgia that prompts a yearning for a historical time and place that you have never actually experienced. Photographs can be perfect anemoia triggers, and this one works by layering retro longing from several different eras.”

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