Project Memory XL http://memoryxl.blogspot.it/ Presentation for the workshop on autobiographical method in Rome. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

1. Autobiographical memory
By Andrea Ciantar

2. Memory is a “tool”…
An important aspect of memory is:
Non only how much I can remember…
But also what? And why?

3. The act of remembering contains an intentionality
...
What is the intent of the autobiographical memory?
Example:
• Feel the life
• Looking for what is important
• Finding the common thread of an existence
• Making more authentic the present and the
future
• ....
All this is "do not forget about themselves"

4. First workshop:
We’ll split in small groups.
First step:
• reading texts already written
• just experiment the pleasure to listen...
• At this stage well’not do a discussion, we’ll
just share....

5. Second step:
Investigation; lets try to observe the implicit meanings and
contents of the memories:
• Learnings, things we’ve learned...
• Experiences that made us know the wonder of existence
and the wonder of the world ...
• Values, the awareness of what is important, what we value
in life ...
• The World, discovering "how the world works" ...
• My self, discovering "as I am" ...
• Questions (implicit) that the experiences have left to me,
and I’m still trying to answer ...
• ..... (other categories about the intentionality and
content...)

6. The second step is composed of two parts:
• Work individually, try to discover the
intenzionality behind the act of remembering;
• Select and cut short memories connected
twith the categories among the ones we’ve
written, and stick them on a flipchart;
• Share the memories and the reflections.

7. Let’s see again the categories to observe the implicit
meanings and contents of the memories:
• Learnings, things we’ve learned...
• Experiences that made us know the wonder of
existence and the wonder of the world ...
• Values, the awareness of what is important, what we
value in life ...
• The World, discovering "how the world works" ...
• My self, discovering "as is am" ...
• Questions (implicit) that the experiences have left to
me, and I’m still trying to answer ...
• ..... (other: find other categories about the
intentionality and content...)

8. Why these experiences are important to me
today? Is there something I want for my
future, I'm trying to achieve or acquire, and
that is connected (as far as I can see) to some
of these past experiences? ...…

9. Variety of Autobiographical
narrative forms
Greater forms
• autobiography, memoirs
• epistolary
• journal, diary
Lesser forms
• personal notes, blogs, letters and e-mails, etc.
when stating private feelings and thoughts about
oneself.
• ….

10. • “Although autobiographies and journals are at
the core of writing about oneself, we trace all
types of narrator-focused writing – short,
epigrammatic, formal, in prose or poetic – to
the “autobiographical genre”.
(Demetrio, Borgonovi, 2005)

11. The reasons for the autobiographical
education
•
•
•
•
•
Meta-cognitive aspect
Revitalization aspect
Heuristic aspect
Training aspect
Aspect of change
(Formenti 1998)

12. Technology of writing
- The writing technologies
become, through the
centuries, a common
heritage (from the Scriba,
to the scriptura continua,
to the use of
punctuation, in the
twelfth century…)
(A. Smorti, 1998)
12

13. • The act of write the autobiography has had
different meaning depending of the cultural
paradigma…
• But it has also influenced the culture itself
13

14. • “The author of an autobiography gives himself
the job of narrating his own history; what he
sets out to do is to reassemble the scattered
elements of his individual life and to regroup
them in a comprehensive sketch”
(Gusdorf , 1980, in Demetrio, Borgonovi 2005)
14

15. Methods to facilitate effective
autobiographical paths
• The emergence of recollection:
memory list ....
• Towards the plot: memories of significant
events; these memories can then create e
sequence or a kind of order, so constructing
such a possible plot of our story...

16. • Some examples of types of memories:
Encounters: in each life story encounters with other
persons are a suorce of change…
Moment of life connected with the main spheres of
human life: love, work, play- leisure, death…
Turning points, where there have been significant
changes ...
Wounds, moments of success ...
…….

17. Support memory
Stated all this, we can ask also if autobiography can
help to keep a “good memory”.
One example, by Heritage Experience.
What is the project:
• Intended for people with Alzheimer's disease
being mild moderate
• Involvement of hospital facilities and / or
structures to which they are treating the patient
to understand what topics to focus the visit.

18. • what is the visit?
• The experiment was conducted so far on artistic works,
but the new project foresees the involvement of
museums of archeology and tradition.
• the visit is not obviously a guided tour. Patients are
asked to describe the object using all the senses
(imagine smells, touch ...).
• The description of the objects used to facilitate the
telling of memories of his life tied to the object.
• The tour lasts about 1 hour and 30. The stop in front of
each item is up to 30 minutes.
• The positive results of the project were also evaluated
scientifically by doctors.

19. • Ref. Miriam Mandosi
• miriam.mandosi@gmail.com

20. • Demetrio, Borgonovi, Teaching to Remember Ourself: the
Autobiographical Methodology, Springerlink 2005
• D. Demetrio, Raccontarsi, Raffaello Cortina Editore, Milano, 1995.
• D. Demetrio, L’educatore autobiografo, Unicopli, Milano, 1999.
• D. Demetrio, A. Ciantar, Scritture Erranti, Edup, Roma, 2002.
• L. Formenti, I. Gamelli, Quella volta che ho imparato, Raffaello
Cortina, Milano 1998.
• L. Formenti, La formazione autobiografica, Guerini, Milano, 1998.
• A. Ciantar, Three challenges for Informal Learning in Europe
(Grundtvig Contact Seminar “MAKING LEARNING VISIBLE”, LLP
Italian Agency, October 2010).
• A. Smorti, Il sé come testo. Costruzione delle storie e sviluppo della
persona, Giunti, 1998.
By Andrea Ciantar - andrea.ciantar@gmail.com