ABSTRACT
Joan.Didion’s.autobiographical.play,.The Year of Magical Thinking,.is.based.on.her.memoir.of.the. same.title.and.depicts.the.events.from.a.period.in.her.life.that.included.both.the.unexpected.death.of. her.husband.and.the.prolonged.illness.and.eventual.death.of.her.only.child..Describing.the.process. of.adapting.the.story.for.the.Broadway.stage,.Didion.commented:
I.never.thought.of.the.character.who.would.appear.onstage.in.this.play.as.me..I.thought.of.her.as.“the. speaker,”.or.“she.”.I.thought.of.myself.as.the.witness,.the.watcher,.the.auditor,.the.audience..….It.would. be.logical.to.assume.that.I.adopted.this.distance.to.protect.myself..It.would.also.be.wrong..The.idea.that. whoever.appeared.onstage.would.play.not.me.but.a.character.was.central.to.imagining.how.to.make.the. narrative:.I.would.need.to.see.myself.from.outside..(2007,.p..B7)
Didion’s.remarks.suggest.that.reflecting.on.life.experiences.from.an.outside.perspective.facilitates. the. process. of.making. sense.of. those. events. and. constructing. a. coherent. story.. Few. of. us. will.ever.write.a.formal.autobiography,.let.alone.see.our.life.events.played.out.by.an.actor.on.the. Broadway.stage..However,.in.the.process.of.developing.a.self-concept,.people.do.tend.to.integrate. their.life.experiences.into.a.coherent.framework.that.follows.a.narrative.structure.(McAdams,.2001;. Singer,. 2004),. and.when. thinking.about. life. events.people.do.often. see. those. events.played.out. with.imagery.in.their.mind’s.eye.(Atance.&.O’Neill,.2001;.Pillemer,.1998)..Further,.in.this.mental. imagery.people.sometimes.use.an.observer’s.visual.perspective.so.that.they.see.themselves.from. the.outside.(Nigro.&.Neisser,.1983)..Does.the.visual.perspective.people.use.to.picture.life.events. play.a.role.in.the.process.of.integrating.those.events.into.a.broader.framework,.as.Didion’s.remarks. suggest?.If.so,.what.are.the.consequences.for.the.self-concept,.self-judgment,.and.behavior?
