The futureless past

Abstract

This paper develops the concept of a futureless past, drawing upon G. H. Mead's theory of the past. The futureless past is distinct from several other familiar conceptualizations, including symbolic reconstruction, anomie, and nostalgia. Specifically, the futureless past represents acknowledgment of prior significance and the co-acknowledgment that whatever has occurred cannot possibly occur again. Drawing upon films such as The Days of Wine and Roses and No Country for Old Men, the paper explores the notion of moving forward in time with recollections of things that have passed, using such passage as boundaries between what should and must occur and what can never occur in order to project or deny a shared future.

Citation

Katovich, M.A. (2010), "The futureless past", Denzin, N.K. (Ed.) Studies in Symbolic Interaction (Studies in Symbolic Interaction, Vol. 35), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 345-356. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0163-2396(2010)0000035022