Overview. 1. Sociocultural psychology of the lifecourse Imagination 3. Imagination in development

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1 Change, Agency and Continuity IMAGINATION IN THE LIFECOURSE Tania Zittoun, University of Neuchâtel Finnish National Congress of Psychology University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, August 22, Overview 1. Sociocultural psychology of the lifecourse 2. Imagination 3. Imagination in development 1. Sociocultural psychology of the lifecourse 3 4 Sociocultural psychology Humans are cultural beings : Lev Vygotsky (1929, 1986) and pragmatism : William James (1890) and Charles Peirce (1877): 1. Narratives : Jerome Bruner (1977, 1990, 2003) 2. Cultural tools (Michael Cole, 1996) and collective memory (James Wertsch, 1991, 1998) NB: FIN Cultural historical theory (CHAT): Yrjio Engeström, Kristiina Kumpulainen, etc. 3. Semiotic dynamics: Jaan Valsiner (1998, 2000, 2007, 2012a, 2012b, 2014). Sociocultural psychology 4 assumptions: 1. Unicity of the person 2. Interaction and relation with others and the world 3. Temporality 4. Sense making 5 6 1

2 .of the lifecourse Development all life long, in a changing world No linear trajectory, unpredictability Ruptures and transitions, bifurcations Yet needs for integrity and continuity What resources? What dynamics? 2. Imagination Baltes, 1997; Elder, 2002; Erikson, 1968; Valsiner & Lawrence, 1997; Zittoun et al, Imagination, an overview In philosophy, as the capacity to see what is not present to the senses. BUT: visual or multimodal? Reproductive or creative? Primitive or part of the possibility of culture (Vico) or freedom (Sartre)? Imagination, an overview In psychology same debates For some: fundamental in development (Freud 1908, Vygotsky, 1931, 1933; Winnicott, 1971; Harris, 2000; Singer & Singer 1992, 2005): Visible in childhood in play, and progressively internalized; allows fiction, daydream, creativity, invention, cultural experiences in general As if, bracketing of reality, real consequences Develops as any other skill, through the progressive mastery of specific semiotic systems 9 10 Imagination, proposition Proposition: Imagination draws on various experiences the person has of, or through the cultural world, through diverse senses, now combined, organized or integrated in new forms, which allows to explore the past, the future, as well as alternative possibilities. Imagination vs. creativity NB: creativity, in current research, demands socially acknowledged outcomes (Glăveanu, 2014; Tanggaard, 2014). After Vygotsky, 1934; Pelaprat & Cole,

3 Imagination as a loop Imagination as a loop Resources Imaginary loop Triggers Outcomes Time Immediate experience of socially shared reality 13 Time 14 Imagination: Rachel, 11 Imagination as a loop Cultural artefacts I d like to become a journalist, a reporter, actually. I would like to go for adventures. And at the same time to be able to write, because I like it very much. (..) Oh, I have a diary, I make up stories and I write poetry. (Bakhti, 2010, Zittoun & de Saint Laurent, 2014) Personal experiences Time Social representation, discourses Social recognition 16 Methodological parenthesis 3. Imagination in development Theoretical work Empirical studies Qualitative and quantitative studies on learning and transitions with A. N. Perret Clermont, M. Grossen (Zittoun & Perret Clermont, 2009; Zittoun, 2004, 2006, 2007b; Zittoun & Grossen, 2012); Longitudinal case studies (diaries, self writing, documentaries) with A. Gillespie, J. Valsiner, C. de Saint Laurent (Gillespie, Cornish, Aveling, & Zittoun, 2008; Gillespie & Zittoun, 2010; Zittoun & Gillespie, in pressa, 2012; Zittoun et al., 2013; Zittoun & de Saint Laurent, 2015)

4 Case study Spheres of experiences Longitudinal documentary Studies of marriages in the 20 th Century, by Helena Třeštíkova (2009) 7 couples, Young man s trajectory, from Zuzana a Stanislav Wedding in 1980 Parent s Home School 2 Friends Holidays Partner Music 19 After A. Schuetz (1944, 1945) 20 Dynamics of transitions Stanislav s spheres of experiences Zittoun & Perret Clermont, 2009; Zittoun et al Stan s spheres 1980 Stan s spheres 82 Zuzana s place/child Zuzana s place/child Parent s Home Parent s Home electronics Army electronics Bike 4

5 Zuzana 1983 Zuzana 1983 We re hoping for a flat so we can move. I don t know when. It has to be furnished which isn t easy. When we ll be on our own, it ll be better. I don t like it like this anymore Zuzana 1983 Zuzana 1983 We re hoping for a flat so we can move. I don t know when. It has to be furnished which isn t easy. When we ll be on our own, it ll be better. I don t like it like this anymore Stan s spheres 86 2 electronics Zuzana s place/child Parent s Home Army Electronics Satellite Dish Bike

6 Stanislav 1986 This is a program that calculates classical biorhythms. It also has the extra feature that there s sound, like it can also talk, de facto, even if it s not that understandable. What can the computer do? It s really wide open. ( ) You can play different games on it but that s not its main function. It can really help simplify calculations. I wrote a program in conjunction with the telescope (..) Stanislav 1986 And you get a good feeling because not everybody could do this. When you look at the moon in 200 magnifications, it s a very breathtaking, aesthetic experience. It s not just what you see, it s also that you start thinking about it, start reading books about it, about the creation of the universe, the Big Bang, where it is assumed everything exploded from a single place. What was before that? Stanislav 1986 And you get a good feeling because not everybody could do this. When you look at the moon in 200 magnifications, it s a very breathtaking, aesthetic experience. It s not just what you see, it s also that you start thinking about it, start reading books about it, about the creation of the universe, the Big Bang, where it is assumed everything exploded from a single place. What was before that? Stanislav 1986 Proximal and distal experiences The origin of 35 Zittoun & Gillespie in press 36 6

7 Ruptures and transitions Rupture Bifurcation point Inner perspective? After : Trajectory equifinality model Sato et al Imagination in transition REVOLUTION 1989 Satellite dish IMAGINATION The origin of??? The Revolution: Stanislav s new sphere of experience 42 7

8 Stanislav 2003 Before the revolution I built a satellite receiver. Suddenly our living room was a place where these instant, cool images flashed through, with words we didn t understand. What could you do with that? We bought a book and began teaching ourselves. Zuzana quit after a while. And today I make my living as an interpreter. REVOLUTION 1989 Foreign country: German Satellite Dish Th origin of??? 43 The Revolution: Stanislav s new sphere of experience 44 REVOLUTION 1989 REVOLUTION 1989 Foreign country: German Foreign country: German Satellite Dish New New Th origin of Th origin of The Revolution: Stanislav s new sphere of experience 45 The Revolution: Stanislav s new sphere of experience 46 Imagination and transitions The development of imagination In one sphere of experience To create and explore possibilities As creating distal experiences which can guide real experiences As means to connect diverse experiences, and learn from them Reversely, difficulties when imagination is inhibited 1. Imagination develops all life long: In a given sphere of experience, in their creation, and across sphere of experience 2. Imagination plays a main role in the emergence of the subject and freedom (Zittoun, 2012b, 2014) 3. The maturation of imagination produces personal life philosophies (Valsiner, 2007) 4. Imagination plays a main role in the melody of our living (Zittoun et al., 2013)

9 Stanislav, 2006 I feel I m lucky in that if I now look back, I ve the feeling I ve never had it so good as I do today. And this state of mind is pretty constant for me now. I remember a time in my childhood when I was looking forward to being an adult. Then I became one and since then it s been good. The development of imagination 1. Imagination develops all life long: In a given sphere of experience, in their creation, and across sphere of experience 2. Imagination plays a main role in the emergence of the subject and freedom (Zittoun, 2012b, 2014) 3. The maturation of imagination produces personal life philosophies (Valsiner, 2007) 4. Imagination plays a main role in the melody of our living (Zittoun et al., 2013) Conclusion How to describe the life course, and challenges for integrity and continuity? Spheres of experiences, dynamics of transitions, sense making.. And overall imagination an invitation! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!! Kiitos tania.zittoun@unine.ch 53 Bruner, J. S. (1990). Acts of meaning. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Cole, M. (1996). Cultural psychology. A once and future discipline. Cambridge, MA/London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Engeström, Y. (2005). Developmental work research: Expanding activity theory in practice. Berlin: Lehmanns Media. Erikson, E. H. (1959). Identity and the life cycle. Selected papers. (1959 e éd.). New York: International Universities Press. Freud, S. (1959). Creative writers and day dreaming. In J. Strachey (Éd.), The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological s of Sigmund Freud (Original German publication 1907., Vol. 9, p ). London: The Hogarth Press. Glăveanu, V. P. (2014). Distributed creativity: Thinking outside the box of the creative individual. Cham, Heidelberger etc.: Springer. James, W. (1890). The principles of psychology (Vol. I). New York: Dover publications. Levy, R., Ghisletta, P., Le Goff, J. M., Spini, D., & Widmer, E. (Éd.). (2005). Towards an Interdisciplinary Perspective on the Life Course. Amsterdam, etc.: Elsevier. Piaget, J. (1945/1992). La formation du symbole chez l enfant: Imitation, jeu et rêve, image et représentation. Neuchâtel: Delachaux & Niestle. Sartre, J. P. (1989). L imagination (3eme éd.). Paris: Presses Universitaires de France. Sato, T., Yasuda, Y., Kanzaki, M., & Valsiner, J. (2013). From describing to reconstructing life trajectories: how the TEA (Trajectory Equifinality Approach) explicates context dependent human phenomena. Schuetz, A. (1945). On multiple realities. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 5(4), doi: / Singer, D. G., & Singer, J. L. (1992). The House of Make Believe: Children s Play and the Developing Imagination. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Singer, D. G., & Singer, J. L. (2005). Imagination and play in the electronic age. Cambridge, MA & London: Harvard University Press. Tanggaard, L. (2014). Fooling around. Creative learning pathways. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc. Třeštíkova, H. (2009). Manželské etudy + po dvaceti letech. 2 dokumentarní cykly. [Studies of marriage + twenty years later. 2 documentary cycles]. Documentaire, Praha: Česká televize/ Negativ s.r.o. Valsiner, J. (2014). An invitation to cultural psychology. London: Sage. Vygotsky, L. S. (1931). Imagination and creativity of the adolescent. [marxist.org] Vygotsky, L. S. (1933). Play and its role in the mental developmental of the child. [marxist.org] Wertsch, J. V. (1998). Mind as action. New York/Oxford: Oxford university press. Winnicott, D. W. (1971/2001). Playing and reality. Philadelphia/Sussex: Routledge. Zittoun, T. (2012). Lifecourse. In J. Valsiner (Éd.), Handbook of Culture and Psychology (p ). Oxford: OUP Zittoun, T., & Gillespie, A. (in preparation). Imagination. Developing culture and minds. London: Routledge. Zittoun, T., Valsiner, J., Vedeler, D., Salgado, J., Gonçalves, M., & Ferring, D. (2013). Human development in the lifecourse. 54 Melodies of living. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 9