This work proposes a methodology of analysis that takes time as central conception to the construction of narrative meanings (Ricoeur, 1994). The theoretical and methodological bases support the proposal of three dimensions of analysis called mimesis I, II and III. Mimesis I analysis is reported and exemplified. This first mimesis refers to a necessary previous agreement between an author and audience about the world of the narrated action. The analysis of a narrative written by a high school female student regarding her school experience provides an illustration of how time becomes specialized as cronotopos, constituting the scenery for meaning construction (Bakhtin, 1986, 2000). These sceneries offer the locus in which possibilities and difficulties involved in the transformation and development of the author create the meanings of his/her experience. They also provide elements to the identification of interfaces between the individual development and the socio-cultural environment where this development occurs.
narrative; development of the self; narrative time; experience; meaning
