Journaling, Attention and Language: A Phenomenological Approach

Abstract

This article begins by reflecting on the shared position of the phenomenologist, the artist and the diarist, namely, the omission of an existential stance toward reality. The theoretical exploration continues by establishing some general considerations regarding the diary and attention, the latter understood in light of the phenomenological insights of Edmund Husserl and his predecessors. We then link the faculty of attention to the diarist's work in two fundamental aspects. On the one hand, the focus of attention provides the diarist with topics to write about. On the other hand, writing represents a second attentional moment, where attention is reflexively placed on the attentive acts of consciousness and the act of writing itself. The simultaneity of this turning of attention enables diary writing, which represents an aesthetic look at the surrounding and inner world of the subject. Intentional objects are apprehended on the basis of a pleasure that emanates from them. Interest considers objects as something more and different than what they are; they become objects of feeling. This look is comparable to a form of contemplation, that is, an aesthetic consideration of the world. We conclude by discussing the function of naming and its linguistic connections. This reflection allows us to develop how the diarist renames what they mention, leading us to conclude that this new and secondary act of naming is a poetic act.