[Xmca-l] Perezhivanie Without Experience

[David Kellogg]

Near the end of Chapter Four of "Psychology of the Adolescent", Vygotsky is
giving a historical critique of theories of the adolescent. It's a
theoretical jungle--and a factual desert. He starts out with biological
theories that blame everything on puberty. Then he brings in the opposite,
which he calls "cultural psychology". It's not what we call cultural
psychology today but rather Nazi psychology, represented by Spranger. Of
Spranger, Vygotsky writes:


В мире его отношений царствует телеология, но не причинность, а так как в
области органического развития господствует на деле закон причинности, то
ему приходится утверждать, что телесные явления, как напр., функция половых
желез, не имеют никакого отношения к психологическому развитию подростка.
По его мнению, в эти годы и приблизительно одновременно с телесными
изменениями вступают сексуальные переживания в сознание. Эти совершенно
новые и очень усиленные переживания производят совершенный переворот в
душевной жизни.


"In the world of his (Spranger's--DK) relations, teleology but not
causality reigns, and since in the domain of organic development there
governs in practice the law of causality, he (Spranger--DK) must assert
that corporeal phenomena, for example, the functioning of the sex glands,
have no relation whatsoever with the psychological development of the
adolescent. In his opinion, during these years, and approximately
concurrent with the corporeal changes, sexual переживания
("over-livings"--e.g. thoughts, fantasies, romances about the girl who
brushed against you on the way to the lunchroom, or the glance that boy
gave you in the library--DK) enter into consciousness. These completely new
and very intense переживания ("over-livings") bring abojt a complete
overthrow in spiritual life."

It's clear that Spranger is not talking about actual sexual experience. In
fact, the "overthrow" of spiritual life he gives is...well, spiritual. It's
the Sturm und Drang of German romanticism, the discovery of the
ego, spiritual awakening, and newfound awareness of the mission of the
German nation in the history of the Zeitgeist. There is no obvious way to
link this with discovery of pimples, the emergence of pubic hair,
and newfound awareness of body odor.

So here we have an example of переживания, normally translated as "lived
experience", WITHOUT lived experience--with nothing but mulling over some
ostensibly non-sexual experience. Of course, Vygotsky is going to CRITICIZE
this: he will point out that love comes to the adolescent not as an idea
but as a flesh and blook person. But I don't think Vygotsky really means
sexual experience either when he says "сексуальные переживания",

David Kellogg