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Development, Imagination, and Art: Contributions to Research Practices in School Contexts

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Abstract

This theoretical-reflective paper aims to contribute with the expansion of the discussion and analysis of human development assuming Cultural-Historical Psychology as the theoretical and methodological framework. Inspired by the concepts of the Psychology of Art, as proposed by Vygotsky, it is argued that human development is a dramatic and revolutionary process in which imagination assumes a central role. The capacity to transgress the limits of the self and, concomitantly, to preserve its characteristics outlines imagination both as a higher mental function and as a product of its own activity. Throughout the present article, this conceptualization is articulated with the notions of the Psychology of Art in order to defend the use of different art forms to promote imaginative processes and agency, hence drama, development, and transformation. Finally, an excerpt of a field journal illustrates how art can be used to promote the creation of dialogical spaces with high school students as part of a research committed to the transformation of public school contexts in Brazil.

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Notes

  1. The spelling of Vygotsky’s name is presented throughout the text in various ways due to the texts in different languages that made up the references in this article.

  2. In this paper, we use the original Russian word perezhivanie to refer to an emotional experience that represents an indivisible unity of personal and situational characteristics (Vygotsky, 1935/1994). Thus, we use it as a “concept which allows us to study the process of development which means that this concept is an analytical tool, a theoretical lens to study the process of development” (Veresov, 2017, p. 49).

  3. For a better understanding of Concrete Psychology, please consult Georges Politzer’s work “Critique des fondements de la psychologie” (1975).

  4. “[…] as potencialidades humanas só se realizam e se ampliam no âmbito da ação coletiva e em aliança com a alteridade, com os outros sociais, não sendo seu foco ético uma realização humana apartada daquela de nossos semelhantes, o outro não é impeditivo de nossa liberdade e realização pessoal, mas uma das suas principais condições de possibilidade” (Delari, 2009, p. 4).

  5. Espinosa, in Portuguese.

  6. […] a obra de arte, para atuar como instrumento psicológico, precisa confundir, paralisar, dificultar a percepção da realidade, produzir estranhamento. Deve também fazer emergir as emoções contraditórias, dificultando a atribuição de significados e a configuração de sentidos, colocando o sujeito em um estado de contemplação e reflexão. A vivência da contradição é o que promove novas significações, superando a condição anterior de sentimento e pensamento, para, incorporando-os, construir novos nexos ou relações para ampliar a compreensão da realidade (Souza et al., 2018, p. 380).

  7. […] uma das razões de se utilizar a arte reside no fato de que as produções de natureza artística se erigem como plasmação da liberdade humana, muitas vezes para rechaçar a falta de liberdade a que estamos submetidos. E essa função de expressar seu contrário só se efetiva pela imaginação, que neste caso aparece em sua função libertadora e dialética. Essa compreensão também parece justificar a arte como instrumento psicológico e sua potência em fazer viver as emoções […] (Souza & Arinelli, 2019, p.306).

  8. Nicknames were created in order to preserve participants’ identities.

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  1. Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas, Campinas, Brazil

    Vera Lucia Trevisan de Souza & Guilherme Siqueira Arinelli

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  1. Vera Lucia Trevisan de Souza
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  2. Guilherme Siqueira Arinelli
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Correspondence to Guilherme Siqueira Arinelli.

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de Souza, V.L.T., Arinelli, G.S. Development, Imagination, and Art: Contributions to Research Practices in School Contexts. Hu Arenas 5, 424–440 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42087-021-00204-3

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