Maria Klimentyeva, Moscow State Linguistic University

 Describing and studying the phenomenon of nostalgia in the context of cultural adaptation  Identifying factors, which trigger and affect the feeling of nostalgia

 To analyse scientific literature on the topic  To analyse the methodological techniques used to study nostalgia, which were described in the literature  To conduct the research on the feeling of nostalgia particularly in the context of acculturative stress  To determine the factors that trigger nostalgia and its relation to acculturative stress  To explain the role of such factors as gender, age and ethnicity in experiencing nostalgia and acculturative stress  To analyse the results and to present the conclusions

 A psychiatric and psychosomatic disorder (17 century, J. Hofer)  A subjective experience, an internal process or work, which restores the continuity of one’s life line and the integrity of “the self” (F.E. Vasilyuk, A.B. Fenko, 1994)  Involuntary memory or affective involuntary recalling, maintains the illusion of continuity in situations of sudden life changes (A.V. Zinchenko, 2009)  A complex culturally determined emotion, from the group of well-being emotions, has social bases and a dualistic nature, namely a positive experience with tones of loss (western studies, A. Ortony, A. Collins, C. Sedikides, T. Wildshut, D. Baden, etc)

 The general hypothesis: nostalgia experienced in the context of cross-cultural adaptation is determined by the period spent in the new country and several particular factors.

The specific hypotheses :  The sense of nostalgia is one of the most significant components of acculturative stress at the later stages of cross-cultural adaptation and is connected with the feeling of loss  The contents of nostalgia and its intensity depend on the ethnicity, gender and age of immigrants

 We designed a special questionnaire to conduct a full analysis of nostalgia and identify its sources, components and characteristics.  We studied nostalgia particularly in the context of acculturative stress and described its role at different stages of cultural adaptation.  Finally, we compared the results and singled out the differences between two groups of participants – Russian immigrants living in English-speaking countries, and English-speaking immigrants living in Russia.

 Survey “Describing Nostalgia” (16 questions) Includes open questions and one question with a list of 20 objects.  Survey “Acculturative Stress Factors” (73 factors)

2 groups of participants : Immigrants from English-speaking countries living in Russia Russian immigrants living in English- speaking countries

 Nostalgia, the components: motivational (25), emotional (62), cognitive (24)  Positive/Negative/Neutral feeling: 39, 14, 4.  The past (65).  Home (31). Leisure (26). Holidays (13).  Time (40). Distance (24).  People (68). Lack of something (34).  Differences: environmental differences (25), cultural differences (10), being in a foreign country (26), strange people (10).  Perception (20).  Life (18).

Home and family 12,90 Close people 10,28 Feeling of love and attachment 7,77 Traditions 8,58 Childhood 10,73 Motherland and familiar environment 28,26 Yearning for things left behind  home  holidays  parents  TV shows, movies  someone beloved  feelings from the past  pets  the comfort of living  food  places to go to at leisure  a job/jobs from the past  the climate  hobbies  social life/friends  the way people are in the native country  the hometown  outdoors activities  games/toys  traditions and holidays  culture and arts

«Separation from close people» (33,47) «Inability to frequently communicate with friends and family from home» (26,53) «Not having enough family and friends in their social circle» (23,41) «The sense of nostalgia» (22,41) «Being far from home» (20,17) «Lack of knowledge of the language people speak in this country » (19,52) «Missing the home and the places of one’s childhood» (18,36) «Differences in medical services» (16,18) «Foreign language environment» (15,27)

Although in general the level of acculturative stress gradually decreases with time, we managed to single out the stress factors, which remain significant even at the later stages of adaptation: - « Separation from close people» (17,5) - «Inability to frequently communicate with friends and family from home» (14,4) - «Not having enough family and friends in their social circle» (13,0) - «Lack of knowledge of the language people speak in this country» (12,3) - «Foreign language environment» (11,6) - «Missing the home and the places of one’s childhood» (11,3) - «Difficulties understanding several people talking at the same time» (11,0) - «The sense of nostalgia» (8,7)

 Nostalgia is characterised by a complex of emotional experiences - positive as well as negative.  Nostalgia is related to sadness and loss in the situation of being at a spatial and time distance from home and close people, when the differences between the familiar and new environments make life inconvenient and stressful.  Nostalgia includes motivational and cognitive components: a person understands and reevaluates the role of the motherland and the sense of self, his or her inseparable connection with close people and home. Nostalgia is related to such processes as memory, imagination and internal reflection, namely memories and fantasies of an idealised past.  6 factors of loss: «Motherland and familiar environment», «Family and home», «Childhood», «Close people», «Traditions», «Feeling of love and attachment». Youth and adolescence are the most important periods of life.  People experience acculturative stress and nostalgia differently at all stages of cultural adaptation.  The factors of loss and nostalgia in acculturative stress are among the most significant ones at all stages of cultural adaptation. Their significance is especially obvious at the later stages when the other factors cease to cause stress due to immigrants’ successful adjustment to the new cultural environment.  The way people experience nostalgia and acculturative stress differs according to immigrants’ ethnicity and cultural origins.  Nostalgia builds a positive image of one’s homeland, maintains the sense of selfhood and the person’s identity throughout their whole life. At the later stages of cultural adaptation it might be the reason for an inability to fully assimilate to a foreign environment regardless of the amount of time spent in it.

THE END Thank you for your attention.