This book draws on psychology, history, literary theory, semiotics, sociology, and political science to provide a comprehensive review of collective memory. It outlines a particular way that narratives produced by the modern state are consumed by individuals. These issues are examined with the help of examples from the transformation Russia has undergone as it entered its post-Soviet era. This is a case study of how a modern state can lose control of collective memory and how memory can be regenerated in unique ways.

This special issue of "Mind, Culture, and Activity" revisits Rommetveit's ideas in admiration for his quest to understand meaning, language, and mind. It also reflects the inspiration he has provided for those struggling with these issues. Written by those studying Rommetveit and one by Rommetveit himself, all three articles are attempts to spell out, extend, and apply ideas that Rommetveit outlined in his writings at some point early in his career. Rommetveit, however has moved ahead in his struggle to understand the ethical dimensions of communication--including the communication involved in the study of communication--which represents his newest project.

This special issue of Mind, Culture, and Activity revisits Rommetveit's ideas in admiration for his quest to understand meaning, language, and mind. It also reflects the inspiration he has provided for those struggling with these issues. Written by those studying Rommetveit and one by Rommetveit himself, all three articles are attempts to spell out, extend, and apply ideas that Rommetveit outlined in his writings at some point early in his career. Rommetveit, however has moved ahead in his struggle to understand the ethical dimensions of communication--including the communication involved in the study of communication--which represents his newest project.

An anthology of Chinese writings drawn from the late-1980s Maoist revival in mainland China. Illustrated with photographs and drawings, these selections are introduced and annnotated to provide an appreciation of their historical significance and the ideological confusion in China.

This text introduces students, scholars, and interested educated readers to the issues of human memory broadly considered, encompassing both individual memory, collective remembering by societies, and the construction of history. The book is organized around several major questions: How do memories construct our past? How do we build shared collective memories? How does memory shape history? This volume presents a special perspective, emphasizing the role of memory processes in the construction of self-identity, of shared cultural norms and concepts, and of historical awareness. Although the results are fairly new and the techniques suitably modern, the vision itself is of course related to the work of such precursors as Frederic Bartlett and Aleksandr Luria, who in very different ways represent the starting point of a serious psychology of human culture.

L. S. Vygotsky was an early-twentieth-century Russian social theorist whose writing exerts a significant influence on the development of social theory in the early-twenty-first century. His non-deterministic, non-reductionist account of the formation of mind provides current theoretical developments with a broadly drawn yet very powerful sketch of the ways in which humans shape and are shaped by social, cultural, and historical conditions. This dialectical conception of development insists on the importance of genetic or developmental analysis at several levels. The Cambridge Companion to Vygotsky is a comprehensive text that provides students, academics, and practitioners with a critical perspective on Vygotsky and his work.

This book draws on psychology, history, literary theory, semiotics, sociology, and political science to provide a comprehensive review of collective memory. It outlines a particular way that narratives produced by the modern state are consumed by individuals. These issues are examined with the help of examples from the transformation Russia has undergone as it entered its post-Soviet era. This is a case study of how a modern state can lose control of collective memory and how memory can be regenerated in unique ways.

Sociocultural Studies of Mind addresses the question of how mental functioning is related to the cultural, historical, and institutional settings in which it takes place. There are three unifying ideas that run through the volume: 1) one of the basic ways that sociocultural setting shapes mental functioning is through the cultural tools employed, 2) mediation provides a formulation of how this shaping occurs, and 3) in order to specify how cultural tools exist and have their effects, it is essential to focus on human action as a unit of analysis. This landmark volume defines a general approach to sociocultural psychology--one that the authors hope will be debated and redefined as the field moves forward. Sociocultural Studies of Mind will be crucial for researchers and graduate students in cognitive science, philosophy, and cultural anthropology.

Sociocultural Studies of Mind addresses the question of how mental functioning is related to the cultural, historical, and institutional settings in which it takes place. There are three unifying ideas that run through the volume: 1) one of the basic ways that sociocultural setting shapes mental functioning is through the cultural tools employed, 2) mediation provides a formulation of how this shaping occurs, and 3) in order to specify how cultural tools exist and have their effects, it is essential to focus on human action as a unit of analysis. This landmark volume defines a general approach to sociocultural psychology--one that the authors hope will be debated and redefined as the field moves forward. Sociocultural Studies of Mind will be crucial for researchers and graduate students in cognitive science, philosophy, and cultural anthropology.

This volume brings together distinguished scholars to address broad societal claims about the surge in populist nationalism in the scholarly literature on collective memory. The book sets the stage by examining historical origins and case studies of populism and nationalism in the United States before exploring these phenomena in the global context. Next, the book establishes conceptual frameworks for approaching nationalism and populism in national narratives through the literature on collective memory, political psychology, history, and international studies. The book concludes with a discussion on common themes uncovered over the course of the book. Throughout each section, the book uses empirical evidence and conceptual claims to shed light on the rise in global populist nationalism in a thoughtful, comprehensive manner for scholars of a wide range of backgrounds. National Memories offers a multidisciplinary, modern approach to an old global societal challenge in a time of great political and social upheaval.

This text introduces students, scholars, and interested educated readers to the issues of human memory broadly considered, encompassing both individual memory, collective remembering by societies, and the construction of history. The book is organized around several major questions: How do memories construct our past? How do we build shared collective memories? How does memory shape history? This volume presents a special perspective, emphasizing the role of memory processes in the construction of self-identity, of shared cultural norms and concepts, and of historical awareness. Although the results are fairly new and the techniques suitably modern, the vision itself is of course related to the work of such precursors as Frederic Bartlett and Aleksandr Luria, who in very different ways represent the starting point of a serious psychology of human culture.

L. S. Vygotsky was an early-twentieth-century Russian social theorist whose writing exerts a significant influence on the development of social theory in the early-twenty-first century. His non-deterministic, non-reductionist account of the formation of mind provides current theoretical developments with a broadly drawn yet very powerful sketch of the ways in which humans shape and are shaped by social, cultural, and historical conditions. This dialectical conception of development insists on the importance of genetic or developmental analysis at several levels. The Cambridge Companion to Vygotsky is a comprehensive text that provides students, academics, and practitioners with a critical perspective on Vygotsky and his work.

How Nations Remember draws on multiple disciplines in the humanities and social sciences to examine how a nation's account of the past shapes its actions in the present. National memory can underwrite noble aspirations, but the volume focuses largely on how it contributes to the negative tendencies of nationalism that give rise to confrontation. Narratives are taken as units of analysis for examining the psychological and cultural dimensions of remembering particular events and also for understanding the schematic codes and mental habits that underlie national memory more generally. In this account, narratives are approached as tools that shape the views of members of national communities to such an extent that they serve as co-authors of what people say and think. Drawing on illustrations from Russia, China, Georgia, the United States, and elsewhere, the book examines how "narrative templates," "narrative dialogism," and "privileged event narratives" shape nations' views of themselves and their relations with others. The volume concludes with a list of ways to manage the disputes that pit one national community against another.

In "Voices of the Mind," James Wertsch outlines an approach to mental functioning that stresses its inherent cultural, historical, and institutional context. A critical aspect of this approach is the cultural tools or "mediational means" that shape both social and individual processes. In considering how these mediational means--in particular, language--emerge in social history and the role they play in organizing the settings in which human beings are socialized, Wertsch achieves fresh insights into essential areas of human mental functioning that are typically unexplored or misunderstood.

Although Wertsch's discussion draws on the work of a variety of scholars in the social sciences and the humanities, the writings of two Soviet theorists, L. S. Vygotsky (1896-1934) and Mikhail Bakhtin (1895-1975), are of particular significance. "Voices of the Mind" breaks new ground in reviewing and integrating some of their major theoretical ideas and in demonstrating how these ideas can be extended to address a series of contemporary issues in psychology and related fields.

A case in point is Wertsch's analysis of "voice," which exemplifies the collaborative nature of his effort. Although some have viewed abstract linguistic entities, such as isolated words and sentences, as the mechanism shaping human thought, Wertsch turns to Bakhtin, who demonstrated the need to analyze speech in terms of how it "appropriates" the voices of others in concrete sociocultural settings. These appropriated voices may be those of specific speakers, such as one's parents, or they may take the form of "social languages" characteristic of a category of speakers, such as an ethnic or national community.Speaking and thinking thus involve the inherent process of "ventriloquating" through the voices of other socioculturally situated speakers. "Voices of the Mind" attempts to build upon this theoretical foundation, persuasively arguing for the essential bond between cognition and culture.

In a book of intellectual breadth, James Wertsch not only offers a synthesis and critique of all Vygotsky's major ideas, but also presents a program for using Vygotskian theory as a guide to contemporary research in the social sciences and humanities. He draws extensively on all Vygotsky's works, both in Russian and in English, as well as on his own studies in the Soviet Union with colleagues and students of Vygotsky.

Vygotsky's writings are an enormously rich source of ideas for those who seek an account of the mind as it relates to the social and physical world. Wertsch explores three central themes that run through Vygotsky's work: his insistence on using genetic, or developmental, analysis; his claim that higher mental functioning in the individual has social origins; and his beliefs about the role of tools and signs in human social and psychological activity Wertsch demonstrates how the notion of semiotic mediation is essential to understanding Vygotsky's unique contribution to the study of human consciousness.

In the last four chapters Wertsch extends Vygotsky's claims in light of recent research in linguistics, semiotics, and literary theory. The focus on semiotic phenomena, especially human language, enables him to integrate findings from the wide variety of disciplines with which Vygotsky was concerned Wertsch shows how Vygotsky's approach provides a principled way to link the various strands of human science that seem more isolated than ever today.

In the past decade, psychology has increasingly acknowledged the importance of considering the role of culture for understanding human development. One of the major issues now confronting those interested in this issue is how cultural meanings, values, and practices are appropriated by persons growing up and living in concrete contexts. The general theme addressed in this volume concerns how enactments of cultural understandings in social interactions form the fabric of individual experience and the specificities of individual development.

In the past decade, psychology has increasingly acknowledged the importance of considering the role of culture for understanding human development. One of the major issues now confronting those interested in this issue is how cultural meanings, values, and practices are appropriated by persons growing up and living in concrete contexts. The general theme addressed in this volume concerns how enactments of cultural understandings in social interactions form the fabric of individual experience and the specificities of individual development.

Wertsch argues against reductionist accounts of human cognition and proposes a sociocultural perspective, which moves beyond the isolated individual. He suggests that "mediated action" and cultural tools shape cognitive processes and can explain how they are organized.