Week 2 of Real-World Media sparked deeper analysis about the correlation between ‘new’ and ‘old’ media, and the ways in which it is constantly evolving to suit the modern world’s needs.  

Specifically, this week discussed the phenomenon that is Nostalgia and the psychology behind its ‘bittersweet nature’. Johaness Hofer, Swiss Medical Student,” conceptualised nostalgia as a medical disease afflicting Swiss soldiers […] who had travelled [away from home] to wage war. Symptoms of this disease included constant thinking about home, sadness, anxiety, irregular heartbeat, insomnia, disordered eating, physical weakness, and fever” (McCann, 1941; Sedikides et al ., 2015a). Thus Nostalgia is a concept associated with ‘pining for a lost time’ (Routledge, 2015). 

Simone Natale’s ‘There Are No Old Media’ (2016) discusses the concept and fascination behind “Tech- nostalgia” and how ‘old media’ is constantly echoing through new media forms; implicitly and explicitly honouring nostalgia from ‘previous generations’ past’. Natale proposes that we should “refuse binary and progressive distinctions between old and new media”, as the foundations for new media are derived from old media forms. Thus, the connotation that old media is supposedly ‘discarded’ forever, is flawed (Natale 2016, p.588). Natale highlights several examples of analogue and digital media (such as books and radio/tv) and emphasises how modern platforms such as the internet provide the opportunity for people to still engage with these forms of old media, through using new media. Thus it is difficult “to erect a strict divide between analogue and digital media” (Natale 2016, p.589). 

The photo that I reflected on this week was a beach image I took on July 8th 2018 in Alexandra Headlands (QLD). I completely forgot about this domestic holiday until revisiting this photo, and it directly sparked a ‘bittersweetness’ as it was a fabulous holiday with my grandparents who at the time were in good health. I I can still hear the waves crashing from the balcony,  taste the cracked pepper crackers with cheese, and see the reflection of my nanna in my pop’s sunglasses. 

Natale, Simone. “There Are No Old Media.” Journal of communication 66.4 (2016): 585–603. Web.

Routledge, Clay. Nostalgia : A Psychological Resource. London: Taylor & Francis Group, 2015.