MANUSCRIPTS OF ORAL TRADITION - LISTENING TO AND REINTERPRETING STORIES TOLD BY ELDERLY WOMEN

Abstract

Studies indicate that older adults, having experienced a certain deprivation of formal education—marked by incomplete or delayed schooling trajectories—often display disbelief in the value of their own knowledge. Given the historical debt accumulated toward this population, the objective of this study was to investigate to what extent an action that invests in orality and highlights life trajectories as worthy of sharing can empower them as subjects of language. Grounded in the premise that oral history is a promising pathway for shifting meanings and interpretations in old age, the present study aims to describe and analyze the effects of sensitive listening followed by the poetic recording of life narratives of 15 women participating in an extension project focused on the education of older adults—the Open University for the Third Age (UATI). The results show that this action made it possible to strengthen bonds between different age groups and to attribute greater purpose to the narratives of their lives. The findings also revealed the importance of non-formal learning spaces in transforming the ways older adults are, act, and think. As an outcome of this research, it is suggested that such stories circulate in other educational contexts, with a view to enriching listening practices and the sharing of cultural heritage enhanced by longevity.