Aaron S. Carton – författare

The Collected Works of Lev Semonovich Vygotsky comprise a series of six volumes, originally published in Moscow by Pedagogika between 1982 and 1984 and comprising the work done by Vygotsky between 1924 and his early death in 1934. The present vol­ ume is the first of this series to appear in English but it is actually Volume 2 in the Russian series. It contains a complete rendition of Thinking and Speech (which may be known to English readers as Thought and Language, the title assigned to an abridged, interpretative translation by Hanfmann and Vakar in 1962) and five Lectures in Psy­ chology which are here published for the first time in English and essentialIy comprise Vygotsky's systematization of psychological theory and data in respect to the develop­ ment in childhood of perception, memory, thinking, emotions, imagination, and will. The volumes which are yet to appear in English are respectively concerned with: (1) theory and history of psychology; (2) problems of developmental psychology; (3) child and adolescent psychology; (4) "defectology" (or "special education" in American par­ lance); and (5) a "scientific archive" consisting of a critique of Spinoza's studies of the passions and an important essay, "Tool and Sign. " The decision by the Translator and Editors to render the title of the first segment of this volume, Mysclzlenie i Rech', as Thinking and Speech and not as Thought and Language, as it was previously translated, was a very intentional one.

vi the text can engender. Of course, translations by scholars of advanced standing are not a novelty in modern scholarship. The Plenum translations ofVygotsky' s texts are appearing at a moment when authentic and authoritative English versions of them are rare-a moment when the frequency of works about Vygotsky threatens to outstrip the availability of work by Vygotsky. Since seminal thinkers make their contributions by provoking further thought, admirers ofVygotsky will, of course, welcome the spate of interpretation, reinterpretation, revision, reconstruction, and deconstruction which Vygotsky's work has invited and will participate with alacrity in the activity. Yet, the translations appearing in these volumes are not offered as interpretations in the sense that they are new analytic works about Vygotsky. They are offered to serve as basic texts for readers of English who may be interested in what Vygotsky himself had to say. They are offered to scholars and students, who will make their own interpretations (in its broader sense) and who will evaluate the interpretations of others. Having taken the view that a good translation is essentially an interpretation, the claim that this volume is an accurate and authentic interpretation of Vygotsky's meanings and intentions-and only of those meanings and intentions-must await hoped-for reassurances from those reviewers and critics who are qualified to make such judgments.

The Collected Works of Lev Semonovich Vygotsky comprise a series of six volumes, originally published in Moscow by Pedagogika between 1982 and 1984 and comprising the work done by Vygotsky between 1924 and his early death in 1934. The present vol­ ume is the first of this series to appear in English but it is actually Volume 2 in the Russian series. It contains a complete rendition of Thinking and Speech (which may be known to English readers as Thought and Language, the title assigned to an abridged, interpretative translation by Hanfmann and Vakar in 1962) and five Lectures in Psy­ chology which are here published for the first time in English and essentialIy comprise Vygotsky's systematization of psychological theory and data in respect to the develop­ ment in childhood of perception, memory, thinking, emotions, imagination, and will. The volumes which are yet to appear in English are respectively concerned with: (1) theory and history of psychology; (2) problems of developmental psychology; (3) child and adolescent psychology; (4) "defectology" (or "special education" in American par­ lance); and (5) a "scientific archive" consisting of a critique of Spinoza's studies of the passions and an important essay, "Tool and Sign. " The decision by the Translator and Editors to render the title of the first segment of this volume, Mysclzlenie i Rech', as Thinking and Speech and not as Thought and Language, as it was previously translated, was a very intentional one.

The Collected Works of Lev Semonovich Vygotsky comprise a series of six volumes, originally published in Moscow by Pedagogika between 1982 and 1984 and comprising the work done by Vygotsky between 1924 and his early death in 1934. The present vol­ ume is the first of this series to appear in English but it is actually Volume 2 in the Russian series. It contains a complete rendition of Thinking and Speech (which may be known to English readers as Thought and Language, the title assigned to an abridged, interpretative translation by Hanfmann and Vakar in 1962) and five Lectures in Psy­ chology which are here published for the first time in English and essentialIy comprise Vygotsky''s systematization of psychological theory and data in respect to the develop­ ment in childhood of perception, memory, thinking, emotions, imagination, and will. The volumes which are yet to appear in English are respectively concerned with: (1) theory and history of psychology; (2) problems of developmental psychology; (3) child and adolescent psychology; (4) "defectology" (or "special education" in American par­ lance); and (5) a "scientific archive" consisting of a critique of Spinoza''s studies of the passions and an important essay, "Tool and Sign. " The decision by the Translator and Editors to render the title of the first segment of this volume, Mysclzlenie i Rech'', as Thinking and Speech and not as Thought and Language, as it was previously translated, was a very intentional one.

vi the text can engender. Of course, translations by scholars of advanced standing are not a novelty in modern scholarship. The Plenum translations ofVygotsky' s texts are appearing at a moment when authentic and authoritative English versions of them are rare-a moment when the frequency of works about Vygotsky threatens to outstrip the availability of work by Vygotsky. Since seminal thinkers make their contributions by provoking further thought, admirers ofVygotsky will, of course, welcome the spate of interpretation, reinterpretation, revision, reconstruction, and deconstruction which Vygotsky's work has invited and will participate with alacrity in the activity. Yet, the translations appearing in these volumes are not offered as interpretations in the sense that they are new analytic works about Vygotsky. They are offered to serve as basic texts for readers of English who may be interested in what Vygotsky himself had to say. They are offered to scholars and students, who will make their own interpretations (in its broader sense) and who will evaluate the interpretations of others. Having taken the view that a good translation is essentially an interpretation, the claim that this volume is an accurate and authentic interpretation of Vygotsky's meanings and intentions-and only of those meanings and intentions-must await hoped-for reassurances from those reviewers and critics who are qualified to make such judgments.