Understanding Vygotsky
Subtitle: a quest for synthesis
By: René van der Veer and Jaan Valsiner.
Contributors: Valsiner, Jaan.
Publisher: Blackwell
Published: 1991
Place of publication: Oxford, UK; Cambridge, USA
Language: eng
Number of pages: 450
Subjects: Vygotskiĭ, L. S. 1896-1934.; Psychologists -- Soviet Union.
Description: "This book presents the most comprehensive introduction to the life and ideas of Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) yet written. As a key to understanding one of the most potent influences on developmental theories this century, van der Veer and Valsiner explore Vygotsky's ideas in the contexts of Russian psychology and the politics of the interwar years. The authors chart Vygotsky's intellectual development through the course of his life, establishing links with his predecessors and contemporaries and illustrating his intellectual interdependence with the contemporary scientific community and the creative endeavours of the fine arts. Careful analysis of his social context allows detailed discussions of Vygotsky's indebtedness to literary scholarship (his career began with an essay on Hamlet), with psychoanalysis, Gestalt psychology and paedology." "Understanding Vygotsky not only shows the extent to which Vygotsky's work can be further developed to be relevant to the end of the twentieth century but also opens up scope for a more detailed analysis of his contemporaries. It will be essential reading for all students of Vygotsky and his ideas. Book jacket."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [401]-440) and index.