As I said in my last post, it is possible for a one - with some goodwill, of course - to find tracks that take us to a non-etnocentricism view - or to a contextualist understanding of phenomena - in Vyg's discourse.
Gonna try to translate parts of his *Thinking and speach* complete text that was published in Brazil under the title *The construction of thinking and speach* [A construção do pensamento e da linguagem] by Martins Fontes Publishers, 2001.
These parts - at least to me - can be seen as signing to a "contextualist" approach of kinds of thinking.
The text is found when he reffers to Levy-Bruhl's citation of Von den Steinen about Bororos' natives of Brazil (people that consider themselves as [araras vermelhas] red parrots). [Araras are big and colloured "kinds of parrots". Better, they are not parrots. They are araras. Cannot find a correct translation].
Well, he's talking about "participation" - a phenomenon that features thinking by complexes.
"It is necessary to consider that another hard task to a correct phsycological depiction of this phenomenon is the fact that researchers do not establish a suficient relation between participation cases and all other links and relations produced by primitive thinking [we shall read primitive thinking into commas, in my oppinion]. Those links (...) radically diverge from logic thinking that are common to us." (Vygotsky, 2001, p.206)
"A more carefull analysis of those links established by primitive thinking shows that, even in those ones which do not crash with our logic, they are formed by primitive mind based on thinking by complexes" (2001, p. 207)
"The product of that thinking by complexes shall be the participation, or better, in that kind of thinking may emerge those links and relations between objects that are impossible and unthinkable from the point of view that of thinking by concepts." (2001, p. 207)
"The key to understand participation and the very kind of thinking of primitive people shall be on the fact that such a kind of thinking do not use concepts but has a complex nature, so, the word in those people languages has a functional use very different (...) The key to understand participation is the original liks between thinking and speach (...) a great use of images and simbols" (2001, p. 207-208)
That's a rough and quick translation. Ask your comprehension. To have enough time is something more and more rare now-a-days...
Ricardo Japiassu
Universidade do Estado da Bahia em Teixeira de Freitas - Uneb X
Rua SS, s/n - Jd. Caraípe
Tx. de Freitas - Bahia
45 995 000 BRASIL
http://www.ricardojapiassu.pro.br
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Jul 08 2003 - 11:29:44 PDT