Perezhivanie: in search of lost…? Nikolai Veresov Monash University Australia 1

Perezhivanie: -the prism -the unit -the unity 2

Perezhivanie as a prism that refracts … it is not any of the factors in themselves (if taken without reference to the child) which determines how they will influence the future course of his development, but the same factors refracted through the prism of the child's perezhivanie (Vygotsky, 1994, p ). 3

4

5

6

…the child is a part of the social situation, and the relation of the child to the environment and the environment to the child occurs through [perezhivanie] experience...of the child himself; the forces of the environment acquire a controlling significance because the child experiences them (Vygotsky, 1998, p. 294). This is such a prism which determines the role and influence of the environment on the development of...the child's character, his psychological development, etc. (Vygotsky, 1994, p. 341) 7

Perezhivanie as a unit 8

Complex whole (unity) Analysis by unitsAnalysis by elements Does not contain basic characteristics of a complex wholeContains basic characteristics of a complex whole 9

Complex whole (unity)Unit 10

Complex whole (unity)Unit 11

Perezhivanie is a unit where, on the one hand, in an indivisible state, the environment is represented, i.e. that which is being experienced – perezhivanie is always related to something which is found outside the person - and on the other hand, what is represented is how I, myself, am experiencing this, i.e., all the personal characteristics and all the environmental characteristics are represented in perezhivanie.... So, in perezhivanie we are always dealing with an indivisible unity of personal characteristics and situational characteristics, which are represented in… perezhivanie (Vygotsky, 1994, p.342). 12

Perezhivanie as a unity? In modern theory, experience is introduced as a unity of consciousness, that is, a unity in which the basic properties of consciousness are given as such, while in attention and in thinking, the connection of consciousness is not given. …experience is the actual dynamics of the unity of consciousness, that is, the whole which comprises consciousness Vygotsky, 1998, p

TranslationOriginal In modern theory, experience is introduced as a unity of consciousness, that is, a unity in which the basic properties of consciousness are given as such, while in attention and in thinking, the connection of consciousness is not given. …experience is the actual dynamics of the unity of consciousness, that is, the whole which comprises consciousness Vygotsky, 1998, p. 294 In modern theory, perezhivanie is introduced as a unit of consciousness, that is, a unit in which the basic properties of consciousness are given as such, while in attention and in thinking, the connection of consciousness is not given. Perezhivanie is a dynamic unit of consciousness, the consciousness consists of (складывается из) perezhivanie Vygotsky, 1984, p.382 So, perezhivanie is not the whole (unity) which comprises consciousness, but the consciousness as a whole consists of (складывается из) perezhivanie. Perezhivanie is a unit, not the unity 14

Perezhivanie: -the prism -the unit of environmental and personal -the unity the unit of consciousness 15

What is perezhivanie? 16

17

Perezhivanie - general name for direct psychological experience (opyit); from the subjective side, any sort of psychological process is perezhivanie. In every perezhivanie one distinguishes the act and the content of perezhivanie; the first is the activity connected to the emergence of the given perezhivanie; the second is the content constituting what is being experienced (perezhvaietsa). Vygotsky and Varshava, Psychological dictionary, 1931, page

What is perezhivanie? P1 - Psychological phenomenon 1. an activity connected to the emergence of the given perezhivanie 2. the content constituting what is being experienced P2 - Theoretical concept 2 = unit P2 - Theoretical concept 1 = the prism 19

20 …the emotional experience (perezhivanie) is a concept which allows us to study the role and influence of environment on the psychological development of children in the analysis of the laws of development Vygotsky, 1994, p.343