“Young” Vygotsky

unpublished works about art and the role of artistic creation in child development

Abstract

The paper presents some results of a research about L. S. Vygotsky’s writings up to the year 1923, that is, before the more well-known works in the fields of psychology and education. It is a large number of texts, mostly theatrical reviews (published in Gomel local newspapers), some literary criticism and essays about drama and visual arts. The analysis of these material can shed light to the understanding of his two more acknowledged works about art: The tragedy of Hamlet, prince of Denmark and Psychology of Art. The paper aims firstly to present an overview of the researched corpus, the context of their publication in Vygotsky’s biography and in the Russian context, as well as to provide the translation of “On Children’s Theater”, written in 1923, followed by a commentary that seeks to establish connections between this short article and ulterior works, particularly “Aesthetic Education” (book chapter in Educational Psychology, 1926), Imagination and Creativity in Childhood (1930); The play and its role in the child’s psychological development (1933).