Paul John Eakin's "Registers of Self"

Although Eakin stated he was going to go about studying the "self" or "selves" relating to identity in an anthropological way, his methodologies were based more in psychology. For Eakin uses four autobiographies (in addition to Madame I) to show how identity is influenced with there is a disconnect between the body and self. This is an approach often used in a psychology experiments or studies. Psychologists often study what is "abnormal" in order to gain a better understanding of the brain and how it works.

An idea that I kept coming back to in my reading of this chapter was the notion of change. According to "neural Darwinism" the brain's neural organization is constantly modified. Psychologists have studied this. For instance, when someone is blind, their sensory perception becomes reorganized. The area in their brains used for sight often diminishes so that the area devoted to touch perception increases. This allows a blind person to rely more upon their sense of touch. However, one does not need to be blind in order for the brain to reorganize itself. If the brain is constantly reorganizing itself, then we ourselves are constantly changing. Our bodies and our concept of self (selves) then are also constantly changing.

Does this mean, then that our narratives constantly change? Do we remember things differently? If our concept of self (selves) is rooted in our body and body image, then even without that break between body and self (the abnormal examples) our would bodies influence our autobiographical narratives and experiences. Perhaps we are just not as aware of this when there does not seem to be a break between body and self.