A [retro]spection in motion – Understanding nostalgic narratives in moving images through a participatory approach

Abstract

This master’s thesis investigates the contemporary phenomenon of nostalgia i.e. Retrowave through visual communication design practices dealing with the moving image. It is a practice-led research that explores the realm of nostalgia through a participatory approach wherein the created projects shed light on nostalgic narratives in the contemporary moving image domain. These projects are further supported by related theory and provide insight into my own creative process. The thesis aims to describe and investigate the underlying processes of two nostalgic narrative-led audiovisual projects. Through the research literature and project documentation, I discuss the potential of nostalgia as a societal balance mechanism at the public scale; and as a positive emotion and a therapeutic device at the personal level. Finally, the discussions and conclusions chapter discusses the hypothesis that if one can create nostalgic audiovisual content simply by mimicking aesthetic qualities or if the narrative needs to be informed by the past the artefact tends to place the narrative in. This chapter also sheds light on the shortcomings and benefits of the self-initiated nostalgic narrative projects and the related future research scope in this regard.