The Duality of “Hometown Nostalgia”Narrative in View of Modernity

ZHOU Chun-xia

Abstract: There are many narrative works about hometown nostalgia in China and the West. As a discourse contending with the modernization process, the Western style of hometown nostalgia is romantic, implying the tendency to counteract urban culture. But nostalgia narrative in the literature of contemporary China is characterized by an attempt to get rid of the agricultural culture, and a longing for urban life. The historical context is responsible for the difference. The important task of “remembering the nostalgia”is dialectical and it is essential to achieve a rational understanding of its multiple meanings and developmental stages.

Keywords: hometown nostalgia; duality; country; city