Felicitous baptism

[svetlana14]

Dear All,

In the book "Future of Nostalgia" there is a paragraph "Nostalgia was said to produce "erroneous representations" that caused the afflicted to lose touch with the present. Longing for their native land became their single-minded obsession. The patients acquired "a lifeless and haggard countenance," and "indifference towards everything," confusing past and present, real and imaginary events. One of the early symptoms of nostalgia was an ability to hear voices or see ghosts. Dr. Albert von Haller wrote: "One of the earliest symptoms is the sensation of hearing the voice of a person that one loves in the voice of another with whom one is conversing, or to see one's family again in dreams.."' It comes as no surprise that Hofer's felicitous baptism of the new disease both helped to identify the existing condition and enhanced the epidemic, making it a widespread European phenomenon. The epidemic of nostalgia was accompanied by an even more dangerous epidemic of "feigned nostalgia," particularly among soldiers tired of serving abroad, revealing the contagious nature of the erroneous representations."


I've tried all the way but failed to comprehend a phrase "Holfer's felicitous baptism". How does it relate "to identify the existing condition"? Is that the condition of a newly then established disease? Thank you for your help.

 

[Skrej]

This took some research, but my google-fu is strong: The Swiss doctor Johannes Hofer coined the term 'nostalgia' in 1688, and decided it was a disease, and thus potentially curable (like say tuberculosis) - in his opinion.

'Felicitous baptism' refers to Hofer's naming of the condition. 'Felicitous' in the sense that now they had a name for it, they could identify and diagnose it. This came at a time when many Swiss soldiers (renowned mercenaries at the time) were fighting abroad and with all the wars there were a lot of displaced war refugees, all longing for home. Thus it was nice to be able to give it a name.

Refer back to about page 3, where the book mentions it.

 

[Tdol]

Mind you, I haven't been home for a long time and probably won't go because of the pandemic for a long time. I'm feeling nostalgic, but I am not hearing voices.

 

[Amigos4]

Mind you, I haven't been home for a long time and probably won't go because of the pandemic for a long time. I'm feeling nostalgic, but I am not hearing voices.

You may not be hearing voices but are you seeing ghosts of Winston Churchill or Benny Hill? :shock: