Moments, Attachment and Formations of Selfhood: Dancing with Now

What moments do people remember from their lives? How do moments influence the way people think about themselves? What are moments telling us about the nature of self? These questions are explored in relation to the Moments project, a study of moments people remember from their lives, in which Forrest innovatively uses interpretive methods with empirical data. Working at the intersection of critical theory, narrative theory and psychology, selected moments regarding relationships, change, and death are shared and analysed.

Grounded in existential-humanistic phenomenology, this book challenges the privileged position of narrative coherence as the basis for healthy identity and formations of selfhood. In the context of modernity, Forrest argues that the pendulum has swung too far in the direction of narrative and offers the inherent coherence of moments as an alternative grounding for self, with the key shift in attentional orientation for identity practices from narrative constructions based on answering the question 'Who am I?' to a focus on immediate experience responding to 'What is happening?'.