Nostalgia for Communism in the Collective Imaginations

The phenomenon of nostalgia became so popular in the postmodern reality that some scholars suggest that it should be considered as one of the most important features of this epoch. Two decades after the fall of communism we can observe growing nostalgia for the past in the Central and Eastern Europe. The aim of the text is to examine different levels and aspects of nostalgia, which is a complex feeling and should not be simplified or reduced to irrational longing for the cruel system. Nostalgic attitudes towards the socialist past are motivated by diverse factors, which ought to be analysed. Since nostalgia is moderated by wishes, desires and dreams, it tells us about the imperfections of the present reality.