Reconstructing Autobiographical Memories and Crafting a New Self Through Dialogic Literary Gatherings

Abstract

This article uses the biographical method with communicative orientation to deepen into the life experiences of an individual living in poverty who experienced a turning point in her life as a result of engaging in a successful educational action called Dialogic Literary Gatherings. The stories told by Lola, a female homeless from a deprived neighborhood, shed light on the transformative power that reading and discussing classical literature had for her: Rejected by her family, sharing classical readings in an environment of egalitarian dialogue gave Lola new possible worlds, which brought her to recover hope in life and craft a new self. The gathering provided her strong social relations and a new “family,” and motivated her involvement in transformative personal and social struggles. Lola’s biography informs about how the Dialogic Literary Gatherings facilitate moving from a current to a possible self over a journey of autobiographical memory reconstruction.