Postmodernism and Narrative. The discussion regarding the foundation of the self

• Main Author: Pablo López-Silva
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Universidad Pontificia Comillas 2014-05-01
• Series: Pensamiento. Revista de Investigación e Información Filosófica
• Subjects: Sí-mismo, narrativa del sí mismo, Kenneth Gergen, Vittorio Guidano, Continuidad
• Online Access: https://revistas.upcomillas.es/index.php/pensamiento/article/view/3243

This paper presents and discusses two of the mains conceptions about the origin and the nature of the narrative of the «self» in the postmodernity, i. e., the consciousness that each one has—from the first person perspective— about oneself as the same person in different instants of time. Those positions are: (a) the theory of Kenneth Gergen in which the «self» is a conversational construction that emerges from social discourses previous to the subject; and (b) the theory of Vittorio Guidano in which the «self» is, firstly, an experienced phenomenon that becomes symbolized in a second moment, among other possibilities, narratively. It will be proposed that the arguments by which Gergen defends his theory are inconsistent, especially when it comes to the origin of the narrative of the self and their meaning.