Homesickness

Homesickness is a longing in the stranger to be back in the home. The feeling is widespread enough to have given many works of art, especially as numerous songs and hits, fabric. For the desire of the home into the distance the art word wanderlust was formed.

Term

The word nostalgia emerged in the 17th century in Switzerland; the Swiss Idiotikon leads as earliest mention of a document from 1651. Soon it was used in the medical literature, but initially remained limited to Switzerland. It was not until the Romantic period (19th century) drew the term also in other German -speaking countries.

Sociology

Sociologically speaking, is homesick towards lost communities, especially the relatively unquestioning childhood, especially when the individual himself ( in the big city ', among so many strangers ', etc. ) feels lonely, especially in mental health crises. The loss of familiar environment is perceived as very painful, the person looking for a recovery by returning to its individual home.

Psychology

After psychological reactance (J. W. Brehm, 1966), the individual tries to ward off the influence of his freedom by it tends to look at the not offered or available alternatives as attractive. The result is the suffering that can affect in a mental illness. Children, especially those who go for the first time on a multi-day trip and stay away, quickly suffer from homesickness.

The Swiss disease

The clinical picture of Nostalgia (Greek νόστος Nostos, return ' and άλγος algos, sadness ', ' pain ', ' suffering ') has been described with this in 1688 by the physician Johannes Hofer in Basel first. You know it, therefore, still under the name Swiss disease (Latin morbus helveticus ).

It was already then a by unsatisfied longing for home founded melancholy or monomania, which has a significant disruption of physical health, debilitation, emaciation, fever, and even result in death. The name " Swiss illness" is due to the definition by Swiss soldiers stationed abroad who suffered from homesickness. In France it was banned until after the middle of the 18th century addition, on pain of death, the Kuhreihen ( Chue - Reyen, French Ranz des Vaches ), a well-known pastoral song to sing or whistle, because at its Listen Swiss soldiers of homesickness could no longer resist and it verleite desertion.

The folk and soldiers' song to Strasbourg on the Schanz / Since my suffering started has this disease homesick about.

Fiction and film

Homesickness address the stories The walk home by Wilhelm Raabe and Heidi by Johanna Spyri, then Theodor Fontane's ballad Archibald Douglas.

Very successful was the movie nostalgia from 1943 with the film Lassie dog. Also in the center of the film by Andrei Tarkovsky Nostalghia is this feeling.