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ERIC Number: EJ995088
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1074-9039
EISSN: N/A
How Do Emotions Signify? Social Relations and Psychological Functions in the Dramatic Constitution of Subjects
Magiolino, Lavinia Lopes Salomao; Smolka, Ana Luiza Bustamante
Mind, Culture, and Activity, v20 n1 p96-112 2013
In this article, we discuss contributions from contemporary authors toward understanding a complex topic: human emotions. We comment on these authors' ideas and describe their ways of talking about emotions in relation to language, consciousness, meaning, and psychological instruments. After considering the distinct contributions of these authors, we inquire how Vygotsky's ideas deepen our understanding of human emotions and we argue the need for further exploration into the interrelations between emotions and signification. In his search to explain how social relations become internalized psychological functions, Vygotsky utilized the notions of sign and semiotic mediation to highlight the role of verbal language and meaning in making specific forms of communication and generalization possible, such as planning and self-regulation. Vygotsky claimed that human emotions develop, but he did not explicitly state how this happens. Assuming that emotions are also affected by sign production and (trans)formed by signification and language, we argue that the ways of conceiving of signification, sign, and sense production make a difference for how we explain historical-cultural development, psychicological functioning, personality formation, and the dramatic constitution of subjects. We offer two empirical excerpts to make particular aspects of signifying emotions visible.
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A