Abstract

Researchers in cognition and linguistics have in the last couple of decades argued that more complex memories of the kind often called episodic memories are embodied and are multimodal. This is something that is interesting in the field of persons living with, for example, neurodegenerative dementia. In this article the interest is on how bodily gestures can be used to make sense of episodic memories that cannot be verbally communicated by persons with dementia. Empirical examples are discussed with a focus on the use of bodily gestures and how the stories are connected to identities and a sense of self. A key conclusion is that embodied resources like bodily gestures can be used to construct and communicate a sense of self. It further indicates that modal aspects of memories are central in the communicative sense-making process. Finally, the examples demonstrate how embodied episodic memories can be used to present and sustain a sense of self.