ABSTRACT

Life writing is frequently considered as a private act of composition and reflection. What are the benefits and challenges if students are asked to participate in a collaborative life-writing project that aims to capture, explore, and reflect upon the relationship between personal life history, memory and place? In this essay, I will demonstrate how the incorporation of a collaborative life-writing project could help develop students’ critical awareness of key narrative elements in life writing, the ethics of representing life and the co-existence of diverse perspectives towards any subject of portrayal or representation. Drawing on student interviews, I will also show how their engagement with a place that carried personal and collective significance when they narrated life stories had helped them connect with the community and be empathetic towards those with whom they would otherwise have little contact.

摘要

生活写作通常被认为是一种私人的写作和反思行为。如果要求学生参与一个旨在捕捉、探索和反思个人生活史、记忆和地方之间关系的合作生活写作项目，有什么好处和挑战？在这篇文章中，我将展示合作生活写作项目如何帮助培养学生对生活写作中关键叙事元素的批判性意识、表现生活的伦理以及对任何描绘主题的不同观点的共存。或代表。借鉴学生访谈，