ABS201 - Narrative poetics and Vygotsky’s theory of emotions: To elucidate a scenography of a “narrative learning environment”

Much of the work in psychology and pedagogy that has been directly or indirectly influenced by Vygotsky’s theories has been presented within a cognition-based framework. The late 1990s, however, saw the rise of a new research movement, primarily interested in Vygotsky’s theory of emotions (змоция), a latent theme in his original texts.
Veer Valsiner (1991) have examined the historical position of the theory of emotions within the totality of Vygotskian theory, while researchers such as Jantzen (1999), Robbins (2001), and Derry (2004) have rethought the significance of Vygotsky’s theory of emotions to theories of development (pedagogy), and have considered its affinity to the work of Spinoza. In relation to theatrical self-expression (performance), Newman and Holzman (1993) redefined the emotional topology of Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development (ZPD) as an “emotional ZPD.” Furthermore, Hakkarainen (1999), Bredikyte (2001), and Veresov (Veresov & Hakkarainen, 2001), in a project organized at the University of Oulu in Finland, have turned their attention to an opportunity for ZPD-making, using a narrative environmental configuration to assist the transition from play to learning.
The aim of this presentation is to reconsider the historical process of the formation of the theory of emotions, to reappraise from a pedagogical perspective, and to shed light on the scenography of a “narrative learning environment” (Hakkarainen & Bredikyte), as a pedagogical moment embedded in the theoretical discussions that it has generated.