An obsession with anything entails negativity. To that extent Zoe Williams (An obsession with nostalgia offers us only political poison, 21 November) is right to caution us about being obsessively nostalgic in the political context, for to give oneself up to longing for something from the past runs the risk of compromising one’s capacity to act effectively in the present. But this surely does not make political nostalgia by definition “poisonous”. Nor does it inevitably leave us with a “burning, indignant desire for a thing [we] can’t have”.
On the contrary, some forms of nostalgia can remind us of positive aspects of the past which presently are either lost or in danger of being obscured, and which are maybe worth recovering or retaining. Thus conceived, nostalgias about, for example, community, fraternity, solidarity and good neighbourliness challenge us to ask what exactly it is we want to imagine, making them therefore a possible source of hopefulness.
David Halpin
Kirk Deighton, North Yorkshire
• Strictly and Bake Off are celebrations of living craft and skill, not nostalgia. These are people of modern Britain, on a journey, learning hard practical skills (the hours of dance training, the hours of baking practice), quite different from the empty narcissism of other reality TV, with which they are sometimes linked. These are programmes that beneath, yes, a froth of fun (and what’s wrong with that) celebrate achievement through hard work. In an age of the virtual and an age when automation threatens us all as much as it liberates, these demonstrations of the virtues of personal, hands-on, hard-won craft are welcome.
And crucial to their success is that in both programmes the craft skills at their core are never talked down to or taken anything other than seriously. The judges are proper experts and the shared passion on display is for getting it right, not sending it up. They are democratic, inclusive and participative. And they demonstrate that the “authentic” doesn’t have to be extremist or a rogue’s charter, but can be, well, inspiring and fun.
Dr Rupert Evenett
London
• Strictly could not have been made in the 1960s. Apart from the feel good factor (and golly how we need some at this present time), I admire the creativity of the costumes, the sets and the choreography. I admire the skill of the professionals and the ability of the celebrities to master very complex routines. I will certainly continue to watch it although, I have not yet voted for anyone.
Rev Cecil Heatley
Bromley, Kent
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