Symbolic Sociocultural Experiences

Generating Memories and Weaving Stories from Childhood to Old Age

Abstract

This article proposes a reflection on the role of symbolic sociocultural experiences through artistic-literary works throughout life. To this end, we conducted qualitative, ethnographic research with a group of women participating in a university outreach project aimed at senior citizens. We sought to identify the memories of artistic-literary objects that make up the cultural repertoire of the participants in past experiences, observing what types of associations they establish between these sociocultural experiences and the remembered works. The findings point to a process of literary literacy that was built through these experiences, predominantly of oral, collective, extracurricular nature, from the participants’ childhood to their old age. Such characteristics are directly related to the socio-historical context in which they lived in the past and the social context in which they live currently. As to old age, the sociocultural experiences, shared in the context of an outreach project, help to form positive social references that point to a more active and meaningful old age.