Posted at 11:00 a.m.
Catherine Forget, 29, and Frédérique Paré, 28, founded Québec Nostalgie in 2019, an Instagram account with more than 80,000 subscribers. They are nostalgic for the 2000s, CDs, DVDs, the show In a galaxy near youand the greatest creative sloppiness that characterized this era.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY TVA FILMS
Mélanie Maynard, Guy Jodoin, Claude Legault, Sylvie Moreau and Stéphane Crête in a scene from the film In a galaxy near you
“We created this page to remember the good old days and it feels good! Nostalgia is a comforting feeling that unites us. Makes you realize we’ve all been through things together, we’ve worn low rise jeans, we’ve watched Ramdam. This creates positive discussions in a caring atmosphere. I think we needed that,” explains Catherine Forget.
For Emmanuelle Fantin, professor and researcher at Sorbonne University, there is something comforting in nostalgia. “Studies show that watching a TV show related to childhood, it acts as a tranquilizer, it makes us feel good,” she says.
PHOTO MORGANE SHOCK, THE PRESS
Catherine Forget and Frédérique Paré, creators of the Quebec Nostalgie Instagram account
Frédérique Paré regrets the fragmented side of the 2000s. “We tried a lot of things, in all the universes. Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera marked the candy pop era, the looks were colorful, the accessories that overlap, the plastic bracelets… whereas today, we all dress the same, ”observes she.
Madeleine Goubau, lecturer at the ESG UQAM School of Fashion, recognizes that the 2000s were marked by rhinestones, sequins and glamour. “There was this festive and exuberant side. The young people did not know this time, but they appropriate the fashion of these years which seem so distant to them! There is a side vintage to wear crop topslow-rise pants with the string which exceeds ! We even see the reappearance of necklaces made of small plastic beads, ”she observes.
“You don’t need to have lived through an era to be nostalgic about it, since nostalgia is a process of idealizing the past,” emphasizes Emmanuelle Fantin.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY EMMAUELLE FANTIN
Emmanuelle Fantin, professor and researcher at Sorbonne University
What we regret when we are nostalgic is not simply the past, it is a whole imaginary of distance, the distance from home, from childhood, it is materialized by something that we can no longer find: the past.
Emmanuelle Fantin, professor and researcher at Sorbonne University
Regret a not so distant past
And why be nostalgic for a time which, basically, is not so far from us?
“There was a big technological break between the 2000s and today. There have been many changes, CDs and DVDs have disappeared, there has been the birth of social networks. We are really somewhere else, we consume TV, cinema, music differently. It was the last decade before the digital age. So we have the feeling that the 2000s are more distant, even if it’s only been 20 years,” says Catherine Forget.
“What is new is that digital technology has greatly accelerated the phenomena of nostalgia, and it is therefore normal that we are nostalgic for earlier periods. There is a social acceleration of lived time, a technological acceleration and condensation of time, which means that we can be nostalgic for an increasingly recent period,” observes Emmanuelle Fantin.
According to Katharina Niemeyer, professor at UQAM’s School of Media and co-author of Contemporary nostalgia (with Emmanuelle Fantin), nostalgia is cyclical, but there is a before and after 2.0, which means the arrival of the new generation of technologies, a pivotal period that changed everything.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY KATHARINA NIEMEYER
Katharina Niemeyer, professor at UQAM’s School of Media
Everything was going slower in the 2000s. Today, we want to do more things in less time, to live ever more intense experiences. Before social networks, we weren’t in this dynamic and we didn’t share everything we were doing.
Katharina Niemeyer, professor at UQAM’s School of Media
“There is now an overabundance of information,” says the professor. Many young people who were born with the internet are nostalgic for the time when it didn’t exist, what they didn’t experience. This nostalgia is genuine when you see, for example, the success of the series Stranger Things. »
Catherine Forget and Frédérique Paré continue to feed their Quebec Nostalgie Instagram account with passion. “This nostalgia gives rise to reflections on the past, one wonders if it was better before. Have we evolved? We measure socially where we are… In any case, we have understood the power of nostalgia. »
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, ARCHIVES LA PRESSE
Singer Britney Spears in Montreal on May 17, 2000
Idealize the past
Emmanuelle Fantin, however, warns young people who say that life was so much better before. “It is to choose a reading of the past that does not take into account the disadvantages of this same period. It’s like putting the past in a sieve to retain only the best, it’s the fantasy of the past,” she says.
She also observes that the social climate composed of political uncertainty encourages nostalgia. “The world is getting tougher. The more the society is in crisis, the more there is nostalgia. At the moment, between the war in Ukraine, the pandemic and the climatic problems, which are shaking society, we take refuge in nostalgia. The professor thinks that nostalgia is a new art of living, and that this trend will increase, because there will also be a before and after in relation to the pandemic.
“Nostalgia also allows us to overcome the crisis. It’s not just a refuge, it can also be very creative. There is this concern that we have about the future, there are people who are more nostalgic than others, more melancholic. It’s part of life, it’s normal to be, ”believes Professor Katharina Niemeyer.
What marked the 2000s
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PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, ARCHIVES LA PRESSE
Star Academy. It all started on February 16, 2003. During this first gala, we discovered the 14 participants of Star Academy, including Marie-Mai, Wilfred LeBouthillier, Marie-Élaine Thibert and sisters Annie and Suzie Villeneuve. Not to mention the theme song, And it’s not over, that we sang for months! A phenomenal success hosted by Julie Snyder that marked the history of Quebec television.
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PHOTO ARCHIVES PRESS
The iPod. This digital music player has revolutionized the way we consume music. Apple launched the iPod on October 23, 2001 and has sold over 450 million copies worldwide. The end of production of the device was announced on May 10.
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PHOTO ARCHIVES PRESS
The flip phone (flip). It was our first cell phone, it was beautiful, it was so modern. He was close to our hearts and we were proud of him! More than 20 years later, it is making a comeback with Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip model, in a much more sophisticated version, of course!
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PHOTO ANDRÉ PICHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. It was the time of Baby One More Time, Oops ! I Said It Again and Toxic who propelled Britney Spears to superstardom, as did Christina Aguilera (pictured) with songs like I turn to you and Lady Marmelade. Since then, the two stars have freed themselves from the childish image of the All-New Mickey Mouse Club to become pop divas with always provocative outfits.
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PHOTO PROVIDED BY RADIO-CANADA, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
life life. This drama series created by Stéphane Bourguignon marked the beginning of the 2000s and became cult. We follow the lives of five friends, in their thirties, played by Patrick Labbé, Macha Limonchik, Vincent Graton, Julie McClemens and Normand Daneau. life life is just right and describes very well the intimate concerns of these characters of the time, as well as their beautiful relationship of friendship, hence the immense success of the series.
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PHOTO ARCHIVES PRESS
Low rise jeans. It has never been unanimous, but it was the essential of the 2000s. Low-waisted jeans are everywhere even if they often reveal the belly, the buttocks or the string. Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and many others are adopting this hypersexualized fashion, much to the despair of parents of teenage girls.
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Where does nostalgia come from?
“Originally, nostalgia was considered a disease. In the XVIIe century, a Swiss doctor, Johannes Hofer, had observed that when Swiss soldiers left far from their country, they developed symptoms such as depression, anorexia, and he attributed them to the fact that they were far from their native country . He called this disease nostalgia ; in Greek, nostosit’s the return home, and algia, the pain, the fact of being sick when you are away from home, from your native country”, explains Emmanuelle Fantin, lecturer at Sorbonne University. “Nostalgia existed before, but the word as such did not exist. At the turn of the XXe century, little by little, nostalgia lost this geographical anchorage, the fact of being far from one’s native country, to designate a malaise linked to the loss of a past that will never return. It is no longer a disease, but a feeling that we can all experience. »