Abstract:

With the widespread use of social media, textbook nostalgia is evolving from an individual emotional experience into a social cultural phenomenon. To explore the manifestations, psychological mechanisms, and causes of textbook nostalgia, drawing on the typology of nostalgia and narrative transportation theory as the analytical framework, this study adopts a netnography approach and selects Douban, Bilibili, and Zhihu as online fields. Research results show that textbook nostalgia presents three different forms: collectible nostalgia, interactive nostalgia, and restorative nostalgia. Collectible nostalgia has long existed. Nostalgists emphasize the materiality of textbooks as carriers of childhood memories and stories of youth. Interactive nostalgia emerges with the development of media technology, as the immersive experience of social media awakens individuals' textbook-related memories. Through the combined effect of platform interaction mechanisms and algorithmic recommendations, individual memories grounded in similar educational experiences coalesce into the collective memory of a particular textbook generation. Restorative nostalgia stems from the dilemma of textbook use in the current textbook reform, where nostalgists are trying to alleviate educational anxiety by returning to the old textbook editions. Textbook nostalgia is a unique dual transportation experience involving both “textual context” and “everyday context.” Its formation stems from several factors: the need for self-identification rooted in exam culture; the deep experience of reading printed materials in a specific era; and the practical tensions arising from curriculum reform. The development of Web 2.0 technology and the rise of social media are the key driving forces for the sustainable development of textbook nostalgia.

Key words: textbook studies, nostalgia, social media, netnography, narrative transportation theory