Terza età ed educazione linguistica. Narrazione e letterature come spazio per la memoria, la saggezza e la creatività

Abstract

People, all over the world, are getting older and older: older adults are an increasingly important part of society, even though they are often discriminated against and simply considered weak and unproductive. In fact, psychological and neurobiological medical research has proved that changes occurring in the minds and brains of older adults do not simply imply losses, but also modifications that allow self-adaptation to physical aging; at the same time geragogy has highlighted the fact that older adults have great growth and educability potentialities. Yet, the educability of the elderly is based on the psychological and neurological characteristics of age: it is worth giving past and autobiographical memory, creative skills and wisdom the opportunity of growth through the study of languages and literature as a cultural and intercultural challenge, as well as through the autobiographical method.