Cottagecore. Le contraddizioni slow di un’estetica nostalgica

Abstract

Cottagecore is a trend that gathers social contents characterised by an aesthetic that celebrates rural life, inspired by an idealised vision of nature and the pre-industrial past. The posts base their success on the sharing of manual activities (crafting, making clothes, preparing traditional food) in country houses. What idea of nostalgia emerges from the spontaneous circulation of these contents? What cultural elements construct the idyllic past in which digital users find relief from the anxieties of the present? To answer these questions, critical exploratory research was undertaken based on the coding and analysis of a sample of posts from 2020 to 2025. The analysis of the visual content allowed the phenomenon to be read since the distinctions between progressive/regressive and restorative/reflective nostalgia