Re: [xmca] definition of 'activity'

From: kangasoj@mappi.helsinki.fi
Date: Mon Jan 09 2006 - 07:28:48 PST


Dear Mary,

Mikeal Leiman from the University of Joensuu in Finland has been working
quite a long time with object relations theory and activity theory, taking
special interest on the concept of sign and semiotic mediation. He practices
and does research on psychotherapy.

You can start from his article 'The concept of sign in the work of Vygotsky,
Winnicot and Bahtin' in the 1999 'Perspectives on Activity
Theory. Learning in doing...' (Cambridge University Press) book. The article
is placed in the fourth section on 'Theraby and addiction', but it is a
fully theoretical piece.

Have a look at http://www.joensuu.fi/Noot/ML/

You can find e.g. a full version of his article 'Toward Semiotic Dialogism:
The role of sign-mediation in dialogical self' was in Theory and Psychology
in 2002, from the web page http://www.joensuu.fi/Noot/ML/Dialogism.htm

With warm wishes for the new year,

Jonna

Quoting "Mary K. Bryson" <mary.bryson@ubc.ca>:

> I was thinking about this very thing this morning, reading the definition
> of
> Activity Theory on wikipedia... And it occurred to me as I presented one
> of
> the many variants of the triangle to the students in my brand new
> sociocultural theory class, that there is an odd disconnect between
> activity
> theory, and its attendant notions of goal-directed actions and the
> importance of objects, and object-relations theory, and its critical
> focus
> on the psychological and constitutive value of objects. Maybe there is
> some
> really well known piece of work out there that brings these two threads
> together, but if there is -- (a) I don't know what it is (not
> surprizing)
> and (b) I would love to read it, so please tell me about it.
>
> The affective and psychic -- that is, subjectivity -- pieces of activity
> theory seem really short-sighted and overly rational, which is where
> object-relations seems to have a lot to offer, and yet rarely be cited
> by
> socioculturalists...
>
> Sunday musings,
>
> Mary (Happy New Year)
> PS> I was going to propose to moderate/coordinate a discussion of a
> reading
> in February, but I think with the generous offer of participation by Mike
> in
> his mediational theories course, that perhaps I should hold off until May
> or
> so?

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