READING AT OLD AGE: STIMULUS, MEMORY AND AFFECTION THROUGHLITERATURE

Abstract

This article presents an experiential report on the extension project “Reading
at old age”, developed by Universidade XXXXXX, Faculdade de Ciências e Letras de
XXXXXX. Grounded in the theoretical framework of literary literacy and employing the
methodologies of the reading circle and basic sequence as proposed by professor and
researcher Rildo Cosson, the project organizes meetings, mediated by undergraduate
students of Language and Literature, for the discussion of literary texts with older
adults—a group often marginalized in reading promotion initiatives, for whom the act
of reading can contribute to mental, cognitive, and emotional well-being. The article
offers an illustrative account of the dynamics of a specific workshop centered on the
short story “Ideias do Canário” by Machado de Assis, exemplifying a creative and
meaningful approach to literature. The experience described underscores the potential
of literary works to foster interpersonal bonds, retrieve memories, and affirm older
adults as active agents and protagonists in their own reading processes, relating the
narratives to their lived experiences. The study concludes that the mediation practices
and strategies implemented may serve as an inspiring and replicable model for literary
literacy projects across diverse contexts and age groups, thereby reinforcing the social

role of the university and of literature, and, in this case, benefiting both the participants
and the student mediators.