Lifestyles in the “Alpha Generation”: Reading Experiences from a Reconstructive Biographical Narrative’ Approach

We live in an accelerated society, states Harmut Rosa (2019). Combined with acceleration, contemporary society is also characterized by individualization. According to Ulrich Beck, “individualization means that people’s biographies become independent of pre-established determinations, open, available, and become a task to be performed by each individual” (Beck, 2010, p.199). In the process of individualization, the subject becomes “the center of the biographical process” while family ties and class differences occupy “the background” (Beck, 2010, p.194). Beck also states that the individual “designs his or her own biography”, that is, the “socially predetermined biography is transformed into a biography made and to be made by each individual” (Beck, 2010, p.199). Given this scenario, we observe a precocity in the search for identity within society (Santos, 2015, p.404). The increasingly younger individual seeks his/her identity, his/her lifestyle, his/her self-definition within their social group. In other words, the individual's singularity is gradually and prematurely demanded, which must be confirmed in their daily life. The text addresses the interpretation of the biographical experiences of members of the so-called “Alpha generation” (born after 2010) to understand their lifestyles, especially regarding the practice of reading. The text provides a summary of the main characteristics of the reconstructive biographical method, as adopted in this study, which has a fundamental support, above all, in Schutz's sociology, which is combined with group discussion. At the end, it presents a preliminary result of this research work, the VIR – Visual Interactive Reading, whose objective is to contribute to actions aimed at stimulating reading. It is expected to highlight the potential of interpretative biographical research in developing solutions to identified problems.