Abstract
This chapter, advancing Vygotsky’s original definitions, makes an important distinction between the two meanings of perezhivanie—perezhivanie as a psychological phenomena/process which can be empirically observed and studied (P1) and perezhivanie as a concept, a theoretical tool for analysis of the process of development (P2). The chapter is an attempt to unlock the theoretical content of the cultural-historical concept of perezhivanie in three interrelated dimensions, in relation to: (1) the concepts of social environment and interaction of present and ideal forms; (2) the general genetic law of cultural development ; (3) the idea of analysis of complex wholes by units. Advancing Vygotsky’s legacy, this chapter introduces a concept of dramatic perezhivanie which allows to discover the dialectics of the process of development of human mind as a sociocultural genesis both in evolutional and revolutionary aspects as well as in a unity of macro and microgenesis.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
Opyt (опыт) in Russian original text.
- 2.
Internet resources is another evidence to support this conclusion, see, for example an extended discussion on the status of perezhivanie at http://www.ethicalpolitics.org/seminars/perezhivanie.htm.
- 3.
I use the notion of “social environment”, not “social-cultural environment” which looks more appropriate in this context, because it corresponds to Vygotsky’s own terminology. According to Vygotsky “the word “social”, as applied to our subject, has a broad meaning. First of all, in the broadest sense, it means that everything cultural is social” (Vygotsky 1997b, p. 106).
- 4.
In Russian original text the term начальная форма is used (Vygotsky 2001, p. 83) which might be translated as “incipient form”.
- 5.
In the Russian text the word обстановка (surrounding) was used: Среду следует рассматривать при этом не как обстановку развития… (Vygotsky 2001, p. 71). Condition in Russian is условие.
- 6.
In the Russian text the word моменты (moments) is used: существенными моментами для определения влияния среды … (Vygotsky 2001, p. 72). Factor in Russian is фактор.
- 7.
In the Russian text—для определения влияния среды (Vygotsky 2001, p. 72–73), which can be translated “for defining the influence of the environment”.
- 8.
Here the word perezhivanie is used in plural form—«переживания».
- 9.
Perezhivanie of certain situation, perezhivanie of any part of this environment—«переживание какой-нибудь ситуации, переживание какой-нибудь части среды» in the Russian text (Vygotsky 2001, p. 73).
- 10.
Moment (момент) in the Russian original (Ibid).
- 11.
The same, moment (момент) in the Russian original (Ibid).
- 12.
In the Russian original the expression «предмет большой привязанности» (object of great/intensive attachment) is used (Vygotsky 2001, p. 73–74).
- 13.
In the Russian text «источник самых тяжёлых впечатлений» (a source of all kinds of… terrible impressions for the child) is used (Ibid). Nothing is said about emotional experience or perezhivanie in this sentence.
- 14.
In the Russian original “страшной привязанности к ней и страшной ненависти к ней” (a terrific attachment to her and an equally terrific hate for her). The word страшной here means the degree of attachment (“deep”, “intensive”, “strong”, “terrific”), not the character of it (“dangerous” or “terrible”).
- 15.
Everywhere in is this quote the Russian verb perezhival (переживал) is used. This is the past singular grammatical form of the verb perezhivat' (переживать), from which the noun perezhivanie has been derived.
- 16.
In the Russian original text «у троих детей возникло три разных переживания одной и той же ситуации» (three different perezhivanie of the same situation appeared in three children) (Vygotsky 2001, p. 74–75).
- 17.
- 18.
By developmental perspective I mean a sociocultural genesis of human mind, the process of “how the social becomes the individual” (Vygotsky 1998, p. 198).
- 19.
“Переживание” is used in Russian original (Vygotsky 2001, p. 214).
- 20.
The same, «переживание» in Russian original (Ibid).
- 21.
«Переживает» in Russian original text (Ibid).
- 22.
- 23.
Категория (Vygotsky 1983, p. 145).
- 24.
In Russian «научный работник второй категории».
- 25.
For example in Russian “consciousness is a unity of affect and intellect” is “сознание есть единство аффекта и интеллекта».
- 26.
Here Vygotsky’s words “далее неразложимыми живыми частями этого единства” (further indivisible part of the whole) were mistakenly translated as “irreducible part of the whole” (Vygotsky 1987, p. 46).
References
Antoniadou, V. (2011). Virtual collaboration, ‘perezhivanie’ and teacher learning: A socio-cultural-historical perspective. Bellaterra Journal of teaching and learning language and literature, 4(3), 53–70.
Brennan, M. (2014). Perezhivanie: What have we missed about infant care? Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 15, 284–292.
Chen, F. (2015). Parents’ perezhivanie supports children’s development of emotion regulation: A holistic view. Early child development and care, 185(6), 851–867.
Chaiklin, S. (2003). The zone of proximal development in Vygotsky’s analysis of learning and instruction. In A. Kozulin, B. Gindis, V. Ageyev & S. Miller (Eds.), Vygotsky’s educational theory in cultural context (pp. 39–64). Cambridge.
Daniels, H. (2008). Vygotsky and research. Routledge.
Daniels, H. (2010). Motives, emotion, and change. Cultural-historical psychology, 2, 24–33.
Fakhrutdinova, L. (2010). On the phenomenon of “perezhivanie”. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 48(2), 31–47.
Ferholt, B. (2009). The development of cognition, emotion, imagination and creativity as made visible through adult-child joint play: perezhivanie through playworlds (Doctoral dissertation). University of California, San Diego.
Ferholt, B. (2010). A synthetic-analytic method for the study of perezhivanie: Vygotsky literary analysis applied to playworlds. In M. C. Connery, V. John-Steiner & Ana Marjanovic-Shane (Eds.), Vygotsky and creativity: a cultural-historical approach to play, meaning making, and the arts (pp. 163–179). Peter Lang.
Fleer, M. (2013). Theorising Play in the Early Years. Cambridge University Press.
Fleer, M., & Hammer, M. (2013). ‘Perezhivanie’ in group settings: A cultural-historical reading of emotion regulation. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 38(3), 127–134.
Langford, P. (2005). Vygotsky’s developmental and educational psychology. Psychology Press.
Mahn, H. (2003). Periods in child development. Vygotsky’s perspective. In A. Kozulin, B. Gindis, V. Ageyev & S. Miller (Eds.), Vygotsky’s educational theory in cultural context (pp. 119–138). Cambridge.
Mahn H., & John-Steiner, V. (2002). The gift of confidence: A Vygotskian view of emotions. In G. Wells & G. Claxton (Eds.), Learning for Life in the 21st Century: Sociocultural Perspectives on the Future of Education (pp. 46–58). Blackwell.
Quiñones, G., & Fleer, M. (2011). Visual Vivencias: A cultural-historical tool for understanding the lived experiences of young children’s everyday lives. In E. Johansson & J. White (Eds.), Educational research with our youngest: Voices of infants and toddlers. Netherlands: Springer.
Rieber, R., & Wollock, J. (1997). Notes to the English Edition. On Vygotsky’s creative development. In The Collected works of L. S. Vygotsky. Vol. 3. Problems of the theory and history of psychology (pp. 371–390). Plenum.
Schneuwly, B. (1994). Contradiction and development: Vygotsky and paedology. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 9(4), 281–291.
Smagorinsky, P. (2011). Vygotsky’s stage theory: the psychology of art and the actor under the direction of perezhivanie. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 18, 319–341.
Van der Veer, R., & Valsiner, J. (1994). Notes on The problem of environment. In R. Van der Veer & J. Valsiner (Eds.), The Vygotsky reader (pp. 353–354). Blackwell.
Vasilyuk, F. (1991). The psychology of experiencing. New York: Harvester.
Varshava, B., & Vygotsky, L. (1931). Psihologicheskii slovar [Psychological dictionary]. Mocsow: Gosudarstvennoye Uchebno-pedagogicheskoye Izdatelstvo.
Veresov, N. (2004). Zone of proximal development (ZPD): the hidden dimension? In A. Ostern & R. Heila-Ylikallio (Eds.), Sprak som kultur—brytningar i tid och rum—Language as culture—tensions in time and space (pp. 13–30). Vaasa.
Veresov, N. (2005). Marxist and non-Marxist aspects of the cultural-historical psychology of L. S. Vygotsky. Outlines, 7(1), 31–49. Retrieved from http://www.outlines.dk/contents/Outlines051/Veresov05.pdf
Veresov, N. (2010). Forgotten methodology: Vygotsky’s case. In A. Toomela & J. Valsiner (Eds.), Methodological thinking in psychology: 60 years gone astray? (pp. 267–295). Charlotte: IAP.
Veresov, N. (2014). Refocusing the lens on development: towards genetic research methodology. In M. Fleer & A. Ridgway (Eds.). Visual methodologies and digital tools for researching with young children (pp. 129–149). Springer.
Veresov, N. (2016a). Perezhivanie as a phenomenon and a concept: questions on clarification and methodological meditations. Cultural-Historical Psychology, 12(3), 129–148. doi:10.17759/chp.2016120308.
Veresov, N. (2016b). Duality of categories or dialectical concepts? Integrative psychological and behavioural science, 50(2), 244–256.
Veresov, N., & Fleer, M. (2016). Perezhivanie as a theoretical concept for researching young children’s development. Mind, Culture and Activity, 23(4), 325–335. doi:10.1080/10749039.2016.1186198.
Vygodskaia, G. L., & Lifanova, T. M. (1999). Lev Semenovich Vygotsky. Part 1. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 37(2), 23–90.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1971). The psychology of art. Cambridge: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1982). Sobranie sochinenii [Collected works] (Vol. 2). Moscow: Pedagogika.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1983). Sobranie sochinenii [Collected works] (Vol. 3). Moscow: Pedagogika.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1984). Sobranie sochinenii [Collected works] (Vol. 4). Moscow: Pedagogika.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1986). Psyhologia iskusstva. Moscow: Iskusstvo.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1987). The collected works of L. S. Vygotsky (Vol. 1). New York: Plenum Press.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1989). Concrete human psychology. Soviet psychology, 27(2), 53–77.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1994). The problem of the environment. In J. Valsiner & R. Van der Veer (Eds.), The Vygotsky reader (pp. 347–348). Blackwell.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1997a). The collected works of L.S. Vygotsky (Vol. 3). New York: Plenum Press.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1997b). The collected works of L.S. Vygotsky (Vol. 4). New York: Plenum Press.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1998). The collected works of L.S. Vygotsky (Vol. 5). New York: Plenum Press.
Vygotsky, L. S. (2001). Lektsii po pedologii. Izevsk: Izdatelstvo Udmurdskogo Universiteta.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Veresov, N. (2017). The Concept of Perezhivanie in Cultural-Historical Theory: Content and Contexts. In: Fleer, M., González Rey, F., Veresov, N. (eds) Perezhivanie, Emotions and Subjectivity. Perspectives in Cultural-Historical Research, vol 1. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4534-9_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4534-9_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-4532-5
Online ISBN: 978-981-10-4534-9
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)