nostalgic / theme
The term was originally coined in 1688 by Johannes Hofer (1669-1752), a Swiss medical student. The word is made up of two Greek roots, nostos = returning home, and algos = pain/longing), to refer to "the pain a sick person feels because he wishes to return to his native land, and fears never to see it again". This neologism was so successful that people forgot its origin. Moreover, its original meaning--referring to a serious medical disorder--has been lost as the word nostalgia entered everyday language. In today's common parlance it is a feeling, a yearning for a lost time and place, usually located in the near past. Homesickness is often given as a synonym for nostalgia.
Themes represent basic categories of thought, emotion, or value. While our assignment of themes may at times seem arbitrary or whimsical, they serve to link together artists and movements along non- hierarchial pathways. Follow the themes to look for new disciplines that share qualities with those you already like, or to open up new worlds of Art and Culture.