Smith ScholarWorks Theses, Dissertations, and Projects 2012 A history of reminiscences : clinical descriptions of nostalgia, psychodynamic theories of mourning, and the confluence of teleology Alexandra P. Jamali Smith College Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.smith.edu/theses Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Jamali, Alexandra P., "A history of reminiscences : clinical descriptions of nostalgia, psychodynamic theories of mourning, and the confluence of teleology" (2012). Masters Thesis, Smith College, Northampton, MA. https://scholarworks.smith.edu/theses/915 This Masters Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in Theses, Dissertations, and Projects by an authorized administrator of Smith ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Alexandra P. Jamali A History of Reminiscences: Clinical Descriptions of Nostalgia, Psychodynamic Theories of Mourning, and the Confluence of Teleology ABSTRACT This historical study looks at medical, psychological and psychiatric descriptions of nostalgia as a pathological condition. By conducting a historical analysis on the medical nosology that addresses this clinical phenomenon from the years 1688-2011, this paper examines the conceptual shift of nostalgia from a medical disease to a psychopathological condition and, ultimately, how it is explained within psychoanalytic literature. In examining the way that nostalgia has been described within psychoanalytic literature, specifically from the years 1950- 2011, this