We were the children of a romantic era: nostalgia and the nonideological everyday through the perspective of a ‘Silent Generation’

This article focuses on the generational self-understanding of women born in the 1940s in Estonia. Their self-understanding is analyzed through nostalgia and private–public remembering and is based on 21 life stories. The life stories primarily focus on the everyday experiences from the late socialism era. These women are more likely to give examples not in accordance with dominant national discourse, and their voice has not been heard in the public discourse. The article shows that experiences from the private sphere also have an influence on the formation of generational consciousness.