Writing and experiencing memories from a not so distant past

From the sewing room to the kitchen, an affective path of my grandmas

Abstract

Throughout this article I could relieve some good stories with my loved ones and show how my past influenced the construction of my identity. Throught that I was presented to a place somewhat unknow. So, the purpose of this study was to revisit memories from a ‘not-so-distant past’ and analyse what does it have to do with who I am, currently. I used Rolnik's (2016) sentimental cartography as a methodology, in which she explains the externalization of feelings, through the delineation of movements. Besides that, I also used Assmann's cultural theory (2006), which brought me back to my identity. As a result, I was able to experiment, write, which according to Conceição Evaristo (2020) brings together the words "writing and experience", but the strength of her idea is not only in this agglutination; it is in the genealogy of the idea, how and where it is born and what ethnic and gender experiences it is linked to, and reliving past experiences that, for Estés (2018), is an experience that can touch our soul. Which resonates with the Polylogic of Galeffi (2017), when he says that human life not only can be modified by past experiences, but it also can be formed by them, and so, all the knowledge and wisdom are due to them. So, I concluded that in this process of rediscovering myself the lessons that were taught to me throughout my life, since my grandmothers until these days, played an essential role on the formation of my identity. Therefore, it was of great importance to bring it to light my entire story. Sometimes, as I was digging deep into my past, my feelings have gotten so strong that I could not put them into words. And that it is what makes me say that part of me belongs to my past, part of me belongs to my present, and a tiny little part of me belongs to my future – although it is still unknow.