Rhetoric Society Quarterly Oct 2021

Nostalgic Design: Making Memories in the Rhetoric Classroom

William C. Kurlinkus

Abstract

What does it mean to be literate in contemporary rhetorics of nostalgia? How can such knowledge lead to a better-designed world? From scrutinizing digital technologies of longing like Facebook’s On This Day to pursuing Afrofuturistic traditions toward neostalgic tomorrows, this essay surveys the human need to bathe in lost pasts, how such longing is coded into our lives, and how it can be activated by rhetoric students to design equitable futures. In doing so, I propose five tenets of nostalgic design, a making-centric approach to the rhetoric of memory that (1) interrogates technologies of nostalgia, (2) learns from user longings, (3) urges solidarity across a design’s lifespan, (4) fragments isolated traditions, and (5) surveys the past for lost futures. Within each movement, I both introduce defining features of the rhetoric of nostalgia and assignments that aid students in remaking the memory systems around them.

Journal
Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Published
2021-10-20
DOI
10.1080/02773945.2021.1972133
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Topics
modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism social media literacy studies
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