Becoming an escrevivente

life writing and the crossroads of mental health

Abstract

This study analyzes the power of writing as a technology of subjectivation, which can serve as a tool for care, political resistance, and the reorganization of the subjectivity of bodies marked by an oppressive system. Using a literature review methodology, based on works by authors addressing this theme, such as Sueli Carneiro, Conceição Evaristo, Audre Lorde, and Gilles Deleuze, it was possible to substantiate the discussion on the relationship between writing and mental health, both from the writer’s and the reader’s perspectives. Moreover, by examining "escrevivência" as a fundamental pillar of this research, the discussions raised make it possible, in an epistemological field, to envision the humanization inherent in the textual production process. Thus, with the idea of enhancing being and mental health, this study questions how writing can establish itself as a significant tool for expression and discursive appropriation of the subject, thereby provoking a rupture with the latent imposition of an emptiness caused by the colonial past.