ABSTRACT
The documents of life for analysis are the letters written by children to the President of Finland, Tarja Halonen. In this chapter, the author's interest lies on how the letters which children and teenagers write to the President build special spaces for the young letter-writers. The letters can be read as autobiographical accounts, in which the young people narrate their life, interests and aspirations. President Halonen herself has encouraged children to write to her on many occasions, and that obviously has something to do with the number of letters as well, whereas any special call for writing letters. Many of the letters in the collection are written just to greet the President, to thank her, or to ask how she is doing. However, in the same breath, each of the young writers is representing and documenting their own life. Letters offer textual paths to explore how children construct themselves through language within a particular social practice.
