Abstract
This study introduces an integrated theoretical framework termed Nostalgia as Symbolic Narrative Capital (NSNC) to analyze how nostalgic affect operates as a structured form of symbolic capital within cinematic narrative. Drawing on Kapferer and Bastien’s luxury brand strategy theory (2012), Bourdieu’s capital formations (1986), and Boym’s reflective–restorative nostalgia typology (2001), it argues that the sustainability of nostalgic capital depends not on the intensity of emotional investment, but on the structural mode through which nostalgia is articulated. A qualitative comparative analysis of The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014) and Death in Venice (Luchino Visconti, 1971)—films that share the European grand hotel as institutional setting—proceeds across five dimensions: narrative structure, mise-en-scène, character construction, temporal markers, and narrative resolution. Findings demonstrate that reflective nostalgia generates resilient symbolic capital capable of conversion, accumulation, and transmission (capital sublimation), whereas restorative nostalgia produces fragile capital that undergoes extinction when its sustaining illusion collapses. By adding a processual dimension to Boym’s typology, extending Kapferer’s framework to cinematic analysis, and applying Bourdieu’s capital theory to fictional symbolic economies, the study contributes to nostalgia studies, luxury theory, and cultural sociology. Implications for heritage cinema and heritage luxury branding are also discussed.

Keywords: nostalgia, symbolic capital, heritage cinema, luxury branding, narrative analysis