Adaptive Nostalgia: How Nie Jun's My Beijing: Four Stories of Everyday Wonder Suggests Both a Problem in and Solution for Intergenerational Solidarity

This article introduces the concept of ‘adaptive nostalgia’ to describe the nuanced portrayal of intergenerational solidarity in Nie Jun's award-winning book My Beijing: Four Stories of Everyday Wonder. Challenging traditional academic dismissals of nostalgia, we propose a new framework that highlights its adaptive potential. By selectively celebrating the past while acknowledging its ongoing challenges – such as the left-behind child experience – this graphic novel offers a sentimental and constructive vision of family, memory, and cultural continuity across generations.