Introduction 1. Prerequisites 2. A Sociocultural Approach to Mind 3. Beyond Vygotsky: Bakhtin's Contribution 4. The Multivoicedness of Meaning 5. The Heterogeneity of Voices 6. Sociocultural Setting, Social Languages, and
Wertsch develops Vygotsky's ideas about a semiotic approach to culture in a direction that was central for Vygotsky but has received comparatively little attention from his followers. The most inspiring result of Wertsch's effort is that the idea of the "multivoicedness" of human mind, corresponding to the multivoicedness of both culture and communication, is introduced into psychology. Wertsch has created a theoretical and methodological framework which is of genuine help to those studying ways in which culture shapes mind. -- Peeter Tulviste, University of Tartu, Estonia This is a magisterial exercise in social theory, with immediate implications for practical action in a number of disciplines that cut across the spectrum of the social and human sciences, from psychology and anthropology to history and literary criticism. Concentrating on behavior, on action, as his unit of analysis, Wertsch engages everyday problems of great immediacy and urgency, while sacrificing nothing to theoretical elegance or conceptual rigor. -- Michael Holquist, Yale University The book's goal, to my mind beautifully achieved, is to delineate a "sociocultural approach to mind"...Wertsch begins by defining a unit of analysis that sees the human being not as passive receptor and not as individual isolate but rather as generator of a certain type of action-what [he] calls "communicative" action or "individuals acting with mediational means." -- Caryl Emerson, Princeton University
James V. Wertsch is Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology, Clark University.
Voices of the Mind is a concise, creative integration of several
major theories concerning the fundamentally social nature of human
thought. It has special appeal to readers interested in theories of
learning and the relationship between culture and cognition as it
is played out in the course of everyday life.
*Harvard Educational Review*
Wertsch has a lucid understanding of Vygotsky’s and Bakhtin’s
ideas, and his transitions from one concept to another are smooth,
clearly presented, and supported with examples… Voices has many
insights to offer that are not often encountered in the literature
on rhetoric and composition. Moreover, Wertsch holds true to the
sociocultural approach’s holistic nature, grounding his research on
theory and his theory on research.
*Rhetoric Science Quarterly*
Wertsch…has again written a major contribution to psychological,
social, and educational sciences… In his previous books, he has
been an interpreter. In this new book he has begun to assemble his
own theory into a single volume. The range of literature cited and
used is impressive, and the scholarship enviable… It will be a key
volume in the emergent debates of the 1990s in several
disciplines.
*Ronald Gallimore, School of Medicine, University of California,
Los Angeles*
The book’s goal, to my mind beautifully achieved, is to delineate a
‘sociocultural approach to mind’… Wertsch begins by defining a unit
of analysis that sees the human being not as passive receptor and
not as individual isolate but rather as generator of a certain type
of action—what [he] calls ‘communicative’ action or ‘individuals
acting with mediational means.’
*Caryl Emerson, Princeton University*
This is a magisterial exercise in social theory, with immediate
implications for practical action in a number of disciplines that
cut across the spectrum of the social and human sciences, from
psychology and anthropology to history and literary criticism.
Concentrating on behavior, on action, as his unit of analysis,
Wertsch engages everyday problems of great immediacy and urgency,
while sacrificing nothing to theoretical elegance or conceptual
rigor.
*Michael Holquist, Yale University*
Wertsch develops Vygotsky’s ideas about a semiotic approach to
culture in a direction that was central for Vygotsky but has
received comparatively little attention from his followers. The
most inspiring result of Wertsch’s effort is that the idea of the
‘multivoicedness’ of human mind, corresponding to the
multivoicedness of both culture and communication, is introduced
into psychology. Wertsch has created a theoretical and
methodological framework which is of genuine help to those studying
ways in which culture shapes mind.
*Peeter Tulviste, University of Tartu, Estonia*
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