Language and memory after neurological events

Abstract

This doctoral dissertation presents the analysis of the relationships established in the dynamics of language in memory alteration processes from the narrative of two subjects with acute brain events of different etiologies, one with anoxic encephalopathy and the other with cerebral thromboembolism, with memory impairment, highlighting practices discursive (re)constituted in meetings and interactions with interlocutors, from the perspective of neurolinguistic studies for language in these situations. In this light, it is considered that the threshold of the universe of memory, which envisions a process of reconstruction of past experiences, through transformations, transfers, elaborations, through the selection, interpretation and integration of elements, becomes constitutive of the human identity and uniqueness when interacting with language; therefore, the investigation proposed here starts from the following question: What effect do language practices have on subjects with memory alteration processes after neurological events? As a starting point, we considered the hypothesis that language and memory interact in the systems of links and relationships in the narratives of subjects with memory alterations after neurological events in real contexts of interaction, in effective discursive experiences, in which it is recommended dialogue, in the dynamics of reversibility of roles, enabling the (re)constitution of paths. This option is established in opposition to psychometric or metalinguistic activities, which are limited to categorizing what is lacking in situations of decontextualized verbal activities. In this sense, the main objective of this thesis is to identify the effect of practices with language in processes of memory alterations in subjects after neurological events through neurolinguistic monitoring. As specific objectives, it is recommended: (a) to analyze, through dialogic practices, how the subject of language organizes itself with/in/by language in processes of memory alteration after neurological events; (b) understand the networks of links established by language in the narratives of subjects with memory alterations after neurological events; (c) contribute to the development of a qualitative methodology for understanding the relationship between language and memory in order to support intervention in cases of memory alteration after neurological events. In this way, the theoretical-methodological approach of Discursive Neurolinguistics is adopted, which explores a comprehensive view of language in the sense of contemplating the subject, its relationships, the historical and social scope and the implications of this process in the cognitive context, so that it can operate it, to act with the other, considering their collective work and the effects of the interlocution process, which interfere in the (re)construction of linguistic processes. It is a qualitative methodology, focusing on the longitudinal follow-up of two subjects, contemplating the analysis of language phenomena and their relationship with memory alterations. From this context, it became noticeable that the narratives arising from oral reports, informal conversations, interactions reveal the dynamics of (re)construction processes in which places of possibilities for arrangements and rearrangements for language and memory emerge.