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Vygotsky’s Tragedy: Hamlet and the Psychology of Art
Lev S. Vygotsky is one of the major figures of psychology; however, his deep engagement with the arts is less known. This is surprising, given the fact that the arts, and especially Shakespeare’s Hamlet, are present throughout his career. In this article, we argue, first, that Hamlet was a major symbolic resource for Vygotsky in times of liminal transitions, and second, that it is this very deep experience of having been transformed by means of Hamlet that grounds his psychology of art, which aims precisely to show how Hamlet works as a “technique of emotions.” Our demonstration is organized into three main movements. In Part 1, we retrace the historical and cultural context in which Vygotsky grew up as a young man. We emphasize his experiences of liminality and transitions, due to transformations of the social world and his own life. In Part 2, we examine Vygotsky’s proposition itself through a close analysis of his Psychology of art. Finally, in Part 3, we further explicate the relation between art and life at play in Vygotsky’s approach and relate this to Vygotsky’s broader psychology.
On taking a leap of faith. Art, imagination and liminal experiences
This article argues for the centrality of fiction, imagination, and art for psychology and for life in general. It proposes an integrative theoretical framework examining art as liminal experiencing that supports transitions by engaging imagination. Grounded in a process philosophy, drawing on Vygotsky, it thus demonstrates the transformative power of art. The article offers a close reading of the liminal and transformative properties and contents of Christopher Nolan’s film Inception. Treating the film as a single case study that echoes a wider range of classical and contemporary artwork, the article promotes a complex and multilayered reading of art and imagination as part of life in society.