Understanding Vygotsky: A Quest for Synthesis PDF
Preview Understanding Vygotsky: A Quest for Synthesis
UNDERSTANDING VYGOTSKY: A QUEST FOR SYNTHESIS If?) UNDERSTANDING VYGOTSKY: A QUEST FOR SYNTHESIS René van der Veer and Jaan Valsiner BLACKWELL OxfodUK&Can-brinkUSA Copyright©RenévanderVeerandjaanValsiner 1991 TherightofRene’vanderVeerandjaanValsinertobeidentifiedasauthorsof thisworkhasbeenassertedinaccordancewith theCopyright.Designsand PatentsAct1988. Firstpublished1991 BaSIlBlackwell,Inc. ThreeCambridgeCenter Cambridge,Massachusetts02142 USA BasilBlackwellLtd 108CowleyRoad OxfordOX4ljF UK Allrightsreserved.Exceptforthequotationofshortpassagesforthepurposes ofcriticismandreview,nopartmaybereproduced,storedinaretrieval system,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans.electronic,mechanical, photocopying,recordingorotherwise,withoutthepriorpermissronofthe publisher. ExceptintheUnitedStatesofAmerica,thisbookissoldsubjecttothe conditionthatitshallnot,bywayoftradeorotherwise.belent,resold,hired out,orotherwrsecirculatedWithoutthepublisher'spriorconsentinanyform ofbindingorcoverotherthanthatinwhich itispublishedandwithouta similarconditionincludingthisconditionbeingimposedonthesubsequent purchaser. LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData Veer,Rene’vander,1952- UnderstandingVygotsky:AQuestforsynthesisIRenévanderVeer andjaanValsiner p. cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN0-63146528-2 I- Vygotski,L.S.(LevSemenovich),1896—1934. 2.Psychologists--SovietUnion. I.Valsinet.jaan. I].Title. BF]09.V95V44 1991 150'.92--dczo 90-19342 CIP ACIPcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary Typesetin10on12ptSabon byAcornBookwork,Salisbury,Wiltshire PrintedinGreatBritainbyTJ.PressLtd,Padstow,Cornwall Thisbookisprintedonacid-freepaper Contents Illustrations vii Preface viii Introduction 1 LevVygotslty I}?LiteratureandArt PARTI TheFirstYearsinMoscow 1924—1928 Introduction PedagogicalPsychology 48 Defectology 60 TheRoleofPsychoanalysis 78 m\\IO\ KonstantinKornilovandHisReactology 112 gkl’lh .a CrisisinPsychology 141 be, Vygotsky andGestaltPsychology 155 PART1] TheCultural-HistoricalTheory1923—1932 Introduction 183 Cultural-HistoricalTheory 187 TheExpeditionstoCentralAsia 242 11 TheUniverseofWords: Vygotsky'sViewonConcept-formation 256 PART[II Moscow,Kharkov,andLeningrad 1932—1934 Introduction 287 12 Vygotsky thePaedologist 293 Vi CONTENTS 1} EducationandDevelopment 328 14 Emorions:InSearchofaNewApproach 349 15 AFinalWord 360 I6 Criticisms 373 Epilogue 390 References 401 IndexofNames 441 IndexofSubjects 449 Illustrations Vygotsky’s studentcardatMoscow University.Atthetimehe studiedlawandstillspelledhisnamewith “d". Vygotsky,hisdaughterGita,andhiswifeRosaSmekhovaduring afilmedpsychologicalexperiment. 54 Inthespringof1929Vygotsky lecturedforseveralmonths in Tashkent. 244 III-h AportraitofLevVygotsky. 291 LevVygotsky. 391 Preface Inwritingthisbookwehavereachedamilestoneinthedevelopmentofour understandingofhowscientificideasmigratebetweencountriesbywayof the intellectualpursuitsofindividualpersonsembedded in theircultural contexts. The understanding of the major ideas of Lev Vygotsky that emergesfromthepagesofthisbookistheresultofyearsofefforttomake senseofthecomplex,fascinatingand,attimes,capriciouscreativityofthat Russian/jewish literaryscholar(turnedpsychologist).Foroneofus,(René vanderVeer),understandingVygotskyhasbeenalong-termprojectwhich hasdelveddeeplyintotheintricaciesoftheRussianlanguageandliterature toproduceanunderstandingofVygotsky’s contributions(VanderVeer, CultuurenCognitie,Groningen:Wolters-Noordhoff,1985).Fortheother author, (Iaan Valsiner), work on this book has helped to review some aSpectsofhisintellectualandsocialbackgroundswhich (since1980)hehas beendeveloping.TheIntroductionandEpilogue,andchapters2,6,8and 12werewrittenbyValsiner;theremainderofthebookisbyVanderVeer. Butthefinalproduct ismorethanthesumofourindividualefforts.Our personaldifferencesinfocusandStylehaveworkedwell incomplementing eachother:whileoneofushasbeen nearlyoverwhelmed bymicroscopic details,theother’sinstinctiveurgeforgeneralizationshaskepttheprojectin focus;andwhen oneofushas impatientlyrushed tomake far-reaching general statementsaboutthestateofaffairs inpsychology,theotherhas takenhim(orher-atributetoAPA-styleequality!)backtothedetails.This combinationofpersonalperspectiveshashelpedustowriteatreatiseonthe lifeandworkofVygotskywhich (wehope)willrevealtheintricaciesofthe historyofhisideaswithouttheneed forthereaderofthisbook totakea “Vygotskianperspective"whiletryingtomakesenseofour(sometimesvery detailed)analyses.Inanyscience,itisusuallytheardentfollowersofsome interestingtheoreticalsystemwhorendersuchasystemadogmaticortho- PREFACE ix doxy.Asaresultthefreshnessoftheoriginalideasmay disappearasthe unquestionedorthodoxyisaccepted.Ouraiminthisbookistorestoredie freshnessofVygotsky’s ideasby way ofrevealingtheways inwhich his thinkingborrowedconceptsfromhispredecessorsandcontemporaries,to analyzetheseideas,andtosuggestnewsolutionstotheproblemsheraises. Inordertopreservethisaim(onemightcallitanattemptatanarchaeology ofideas)wehavedeliberatelydecidedtoavoidoverviewingthemyriadof interpretationsofVygotsky'swork inthepastfewdecades.Thattaskisa differentchallengeworthy ofaseparatevolume. Thework onthisbook wasmadepossibleonlybygenerousassistance fromanumberofpeoplewhohelpedustoobtaindifferentoriginalmaterial aboutVygotsky,andcopiesofhisoriginalpublications.Firstandforemost, thetrustandfriendshipofGitaL’vovnaVygodskajaistobeacknowledged with deep gratitude.She (andher relatives)receivedVan derVeer most kindly,gavehimaccesstothefamilyarchives,andansweredmanyofour questions. In addition, she gave permission to use part ofVygotsky’s correspondenceannotatedbyA.A.Puzyrej.AndrejPuzyrejhimself—oneof the greatest authoritieson Vygotsky’s work —was extremely helpful in makinganumberofrarepublicationsandunpublishedmaterialsavailable and by sharing his insights with us. Elena Aleksandrovna Luria, too, receivedVanderVeerinamostfriendlyfashionandallowedhimtowork withthefamilyarchives.AlsoI.M.Arievich,A.G.Asmolov,G.Blanck,V. V.Davydov,N.Elrod,T.M.Lifanova,L.Mecacci,L.A.Radzikhovsky,A. Stetsenko,P.Tulviste,In.A.Vasil'eva, and F.Vidal helped out in the tediousprocessoflocatingrarematerials,andNadiaZilperoftheUniversity ofNorthCarolinaLibrarywashelpfulinbuildingupagoodcollectionof Russian/SovietpsychologytextsintheUS.8.jaegerprovideduswithseveral ofLuria‘sletterstoW.KohlerandS.F.DobkinandP.Ja.Gal’peringave their personal views of Vygotsky in conversationswith Van der Veer. G.Blanck and G.L.Vygodskaja provided us with the photographs of Vygotsky showninthisbook.Incompilingthelistofreferenceswemade ampleuseofT.M-Lifanova’svaluablelistofVygotsky'swritingspublished intheSovieteditionofhis collectedworks. Kurt Kreppnerbroughtour attentiontotheremarkablesimilaritiesbetweentheideasofVygotskyand somekey notions ofWilliam Stern.The full extentofthat connection remainstobe analyzed and isbeyond the scopeofthisbook.Madlena Maksimovagavehelpfulcommentsonanearlierdraftofthebook. WealsowanttoexpressourgratitudetoNWO (NederlandseStichting voorWetenschappelijk0nderzoek)fortheirfinancialsupport,whichallowed Van derVeer to spendthreemonths inChapelHill,North Carolina,in 1986and which made itpossible forValsiner tovisittheUniversity of leiden in the summer of 1988. However, we have borh sustained a x PREFACE remarkablytenacioussearchforourownsynthesisofanunderstandingof thelifeandwork ofLevVygotsky.Thus,nobodybutourselvescantake responsibilityfortheanalysesthereaderwill findinthisbook. Researchingthisbookhasbeenanexerciseindetectivework.Repeatedly wecameacrossalterationstothehistoryofVygotsky’sworkinpsychology - sometimes deliberate, sometimes unintentional. Not surprisingly,we reactedvehementlytoeachunsubstantiatedmyth,andthereaderwillsense thesereactionsinanumberofplacesinthisbook.Onreflectionwewonder whyweweresoagitatedwhenwediscoveredthewaysinwhichVygotsky has been painted as a “guru"-figure of Soviet (andsomeinternational) psychology.Afterall,historiesarewritten (andre-written)afterthefactin ordertobefunctionalfortheneedsofthepresenttimeandplace.Neverthe- less,therealizationthataproductivehistoricalfigureinvolvedinthegenesis ofpsychology isvaluedby succeedinggenerationsmerely inadeclarative manneriscauseforconcern.Thisconcernissharpenedwhenoneconsiders the myriad of Vygotsky’s half-developed ideas which could be highly productiveforcontemporarypsychology onlyiftheyweredevelopedand notacceptedunquestioningly.Itisourhopethatthisbookwill stimulate readerstolookbeyondVygotsky’sintellectualheritagetohisconsistently developmentalapproachtoallpsychologicalphenomena. RenévanderVeer jaanValsinet LeidenandChapelHill Every inventor,even agenius,isalwaystheoutgrowth ofhis timeand environment.His creativity stemsfrom thoseneeds thatwerecreatedbeforehim,andrestsuponthosepossibilities that,again,existoutsideofhim.Thatiswhy wenotice strict continuity in the historical development of technology and science.Noinventionorscientificdiscoveryappearsbeforethe material and psychological conditions are created that are necessary for its emergence. Creativity is a historically con- tinuousprocess inwhich everynextformisdeterminedby its preceedingones. Lev Vygotsky,Voobrazhenieitvorchestvovdetskomvozraste
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