Art and aesthetics

In Vigotskian theory, thinking about teaching aesthetic development means linking this process to creation and imagination and considering the power of art for the humanizing constitution of man. For ^{Vigotski (2001}), Art is the main form of expression of creative action and human enjoyment. According to Vigotski, through Art, we relate to each other and to reality, in a dialectical relationship in which we sensitively experience other ways of understanding what surrounds us. For ^{Andrade and Smolka (2009}, p. 253):

[...] the character of novelty, of the creation of what is always new, gains prominence and is the very condition of people's lives, establishing temporariness and the 'history of fragments' as the characterization of the continuity of life. And it is the materiality of each moment of this process that is based on the ever-renewed dynamics of existence, of material and symbolic productions in/of human relationships.

Vigotski’s ideas were present in most of the research analyzed. We find, in D6, ^{Vigotski's idea (1999}, p. 315) that “[...] art is the social in us [...]”, that is, art is the reflection of the social that can reach us, and it contains historical and social achievements, which can be passed from generation to generation. Taking art as objectification, which brings into its structure the psychological functions contained in the activity that generated it, typically human, Vigotski emphasizes the humanity contained in the artistic work. Research D6, D10, D14, D23 and T5 reinforce the idea that “[...] art is to life as wine is to grapes” (^{Vigotski et al., 1998}, p. 307) and that “[...] art collects its material from life, but produces above that material something that is not yet in the properties of that material” (^{Vigotski et al., 1998}, p. 308). Thus, for ^{Vigotski (2010}, p. 340), “[...] art is not a complement to life, but derives from what in man is superior to life”. D4 was based on the idea of ^{Vigotski (2001}), when he highlights that art has an intense effect, because it presents a condensation of reality, placing the individual in relationship with more vital phenomena than they would encounter individually. The artistic experience would be capable of breaking the internal balance and modifying the will in a new sense, as there is already an embryo of will in the feeling. Therefore, art, although defined as a social technique of feeling, not only influences it, but also the will. T5 highlighted the need to see the ugly in all its strength to later put oneself above it in laughter. It is necessary to experience, with the hero of the tragedy, all the despair of death so that the chorus can rise above it. Art implies this dialectical emotion that reconstructs behavior and therefore it always means an extremely complex activity of internal struggle, which ends in catharsis, as presented by ^{Vigostski (2010}).

Practically all the research analyzed relates creation to imagination and art. As highlighted in T5, for ^{Vigotski (1999}), it is the creative activity that makes man a being that focuses on the future, erecting him and modifying his present. The human brain's ability to create and re-elaborate is called imagination and it is constructed from elements of reality and manifests itself in all aspects of the subject's cultural life. “Imagination, the basis of all creative activity, manifests itself, without a doubt, in all fields of cultural life, also making artistic, scientific and technical creation possible” (^{Vigotski, 2009}, p. 14).

In the analyses, we also found ideas linked to fantasy and drama in Vigotski, among which we highlight D1, D2, D3, D5, D8, D9, D13, D16, D21, D23 and T1, T2, T6. T1 clearly brings the idea that “[...] unsatisfied desire is the stimulus that encourages fantasy. In our fantasies, desires are fulfilled, unsatisfactory reality is corrected” (^{Vigotski, 1996}, p. 221). D9 presents that Vigotski (2003, 2009) assures us that it is the needs, the dramas, the tensions that make the creative act possible and, when discussing the tortures of creation, he points us to the creative potential that exists in human work; “[...] therefore, work, particularly in its superior and technical forms, always implies the grandest school of social experience” (Vigotski, 2003, p. 189).

The game was the focus of analysis in research D9, D11, D15, D16, D22, D24 T2 and T6. T2 reinforced that, for ^{Vigotski et al. (1998}), playing is essential in the formation of children who, in this movement, appropriate human characteristics, anticipating desires, sublimating others. In play, the child develops fully, creates rules, guides his desire, his emotion, his action, his morals, his language and his thoughts. D22 highlighted that, for ^{Vigotski (2010}), the child develops through the activity of the toy, everything comes to exist in it, and this constitutes the highest level of preschool development. For D24, it is through play that children learn to see the world, attributing meanings to it.

In a few works we find Vigotski's idea of ​​catharsis.

As a synthetic idea of ​​the function of art, the author borrows the term catharsis from Aristotle [...], giving it his own meaning: in the aesthetic reaction, unpleasant emotions are subjected to a certain nervous discharge, destruction and transformation on the contrary [...]. The first important change promoted by catharsis is the conversion of negative energy into positive (^{Toassa, 2009}, p. 95).

Only in dissertations D3, D4, D6, D10, D13, D23, D24 and thesis T5 do we observe reference to this Vigotskian concept. D14 mentioned that the ultimate objective of art is catharsis, this dialectical and overcoming process that makes new marks resonate in the body, humanizing our senses. In the words of Vigotski (2010, p. 345), “[...] art implies this dialectical emotion that reconstructs behavior and therefore it always means an extremely complex activity of internal struggle that concludes in catharsis”. D23 states that art produces restlessness in contact with the body, connects us with the world, its style and form follow a path of overcoming and, with this, we can transform it into something new. To do this, the body enters the process that Vigotski defines as catharsis, a self-combustion and transformation of emotions, operating a short circuit with a moral and physical effect. The expenditure of energy that occurs with catharsis is so great that it ends up creating a sensitive attitude for subsequent actions, allowing us to speak of catharsis as an organizer of behavior.

Aesthetic education was present in several works. We highlight D2, D3, D4, D8, D11, D15, D17, D21, D23, D24 and T1 and T3. At T3 we find that educating someone aesthetically means creating in that person a permanent and constantly functioning conduit, which channels and diverts the inner pressure of the subconscious towards useful needs. “Sublimation does, in socially useful forms, what dreams and illness do in individual and pathological forms” (^{Vigotski, 2001}, p. 338-339). The criticism made by Vigotski regarding aesthetic education to obtain merely pedagogical ends was highlighted by D23, as, for ^{Vigotski (2001}), it is necessary to value the serious and profound meaning of the aesthetic experience, without considering it a means to obtain pedagogical results, which are unrelated to aesthetics. Vigotski also criticizes aesthetics linked to morality, highlighted by D2, D4, D8, D9, D21 AND D22. As D8 mentions, based on this, children's libraries were made up of texts with moral examples to be followed by children and Children's Literature presented itself as “[...] a brilliant example of lack of taste, of profound alteration of the style artistic and the most desolate misunderstanding of the child's psyche” (^{Vigotski, 2003}, p. 226), expressed by “[...] poems of absurdities and nonsense [...]” and with a “[...] foolish sentimentalism ” (^{Vigotski, 2003}, p. 226).

Therefore, art and aesthetics are themes that guide practically all of Vigotski’s studies and research, from his first productions in the field of literature to his last records involving thought and words. But it was in the book Pedagogic Psychology (2001), written by Vigotski between 1921 and 1924 (^{Blanck, 2003}), that he highlights his interest in pedagogy and writes especially to teachers. Chapter ten of this work, entitled ‘Aesthetic education’, portrays some of the activities he developed as a teacher of subjects in the field of Arts. The scholar criticizes the way in which aesthetics was generally worked on in education, mostly subordinated to fulfilling extraneous functions, mainly “[...] educating knowledge, feeling or moral will” (^{Vigotski, 2001}, p .324). In this chapter, Vigotski defends an aesthetic education focused on artistic creation, especially reflections focused on literary and musical creation and children's drawing. His studies related to Theater appear later, in the work Imagination and creation in childhood, published in Russia in 1930.

These ideas from Vigotski permeated the theoretical and analytical studies of the research analyzed, according to excerpts taken from the works themselves and presented previously, although we realize that central concepts, such as the case of aesthetics itself and catharsis, were barely present in the reflections undertaken by the researchers.

Experiences and emotions

In historical-cultural theory, as highlighted by ^{Toassa (2009}, p. 28), “[...] every higher psychic function has an experiential face - alongside its action in the world, and both the parts and the whole of consciousness can be generalized by the language that was involved in its constitution process”. Therefore, we cannot merely deduce the experiences of the person's actions, as the internal relationship between consciousness and the environment depends on the person's own perspective.

The concepts of experience and/or experiences and their relationships with other concepts were very present in the research analyzed. Sometimes they appear as synonyms in research, sometimes as distinct processes, one resulting from the other, as D1 points out. This research highlights that, for Vigotski (1996, 2003), experiences always occur in the relationship with the environment in an immediate way, as concrete events, more or less tangible and, therefore, are unrepeatable and unique. The set of these experiences, throughout an entire trajectory, becomes the collection of experience. This meaning cannot be confused with the mere sum of experiences, as this process encompasses the complex dynamics, the comings and goings, the tensions, constancies and distances of what has been experienced. The dissertation also highlights that we need to prioritize the enhancement of our experiences, so that we have a rich collection of experiences to be shared in our relationships with others. Experience (perezhivanie), for Vigotski, takes place in the formation of personality, in what is repeated several times, which intertwines feeling and emotion in socially constitutive ways towards the world. T9 alludes that experience gives us the dimension of life in a process that transforms us. It is linked, above all, to individuality, but without excluding collectivity, which marks the individual's authorship in this process, contributing to a process of humanization. Experience is made up of what impacts us, is understood and means. According to ^{Toassa (2009}, p. 61):

The concept of experience (perejivânie) appears in Vigotski designating both the subject's apprehension of the external world and his participation in it, as well as his own internal world (his “psychic reality”, indicating that this internal world is subject to symbolization and decision-making). consciousness, as we can understand from other works by the author). It designates the way in which the world affects us, becoming apprehensible, initially only through genetically biological psychological processes and, later, also through the mediation of signs. The use of the term is a sign of the monistic profile of Vigotski's work, in which sensations always appear involved in the psychic changes that we call feeling.

In this sense, T3 critically addresses the meaning of the word experience in Vigotski and highlights that it is understood as what occurs in a certain situation, or context, which requires perception and corporeality, culminating in the sensitive apprehension of reality, which enables change, questioning and reflection. Using the Russian term perejivânie, Vigotski (2010) defines this type of apprehension of reality that is not mere interpretation, nor is it mere emotion, as it integrates several aspects of psychic life (^{Toassa & Souza, 2010}). Even though the most appropriate translation of the Russian word is experience (^{Prestes, 2010}), T3 understands that the meaning given to the term, in Portuguese, is more similar to what researchers in the field of Education and Art call experience. It also points out that the term experience seems dissonant with the understanding already widespread in Portuguese or Spanish for such a word, especially because it is often associated with mechanical events that are empty of meaning, which contrast with experiences.

Talking about the experience in Vigostki, without relating it to feelings and emotions, is a mistake. T5 makes this clear when it highlights that the educator, for ^{Vigotski (2010}), needs to conquer the student's feelings. The old education always logicalized and intellectualized behavior, resulting in a terrible 'drying of the heart'. The author reinforces that emotion is not a lesser agent than thought and highlights that the pedagogue's work needs to consist not only of making students think and assimilate geography, but also feel it, for example. Therefore, emotional reactions must form the basis of the educational process. D11 also brought the idea of ^{Vigotski (2010}), highlighting that no form of behavior is as strong as that linked to an emotion. Therefore, if we want to arouse in the student the forms of behavior we need, we will always have to worry about these reactions leaving an emotional trace in that student. It is essential that, whenever we want to communicate something to a student, we try to reach their feelings.

Differentiating the aesthetic experience from other experiences, T5 states that, for ^{Vigotski (2010}, p. 342), the aesthetic experience “[...] creates a very sensitive attitude for subsequent acts and, evidently, never passes without leaving traces for our behavior.” In this sense, T1 highlights that there is a mistake made by traditional pedagogy when it reduces aesthetics to the feeling of the pleasant, to pleasure in the work of art and sees it as an objective in itself, in other words, it reduces the entire meaning of aesthetic emotions to the immediate feeling of pleasure and joy they evoke (Vigotski, 2004). D16, in this direction, brings the idea that, according to ^{Vigotski (2001}, p 333), “[...] the main thing in music is what is not heard, in the plastic arts what is neither seen nor seen. feel.” It is this specific activity, linked to aesthetic feelings, which constitutes the aesthetic experience. This sensory apprehension passes through the perception of the human being. As T3 points out, ^{Vigotski (1991}) also emphasizes the importance of perception for human development. The researcher defines perception as the typically human meaning of sensory apprehension: everything that we are capable of identifying through the senses is, therefore, perceptible.

Thought and language

The concepts of thought and language, linked to Vigotski’s concepts of consciousness and culture, are the most widespread in Brazil, due to the works that were initially translated and circulated in the country. These concepts are the basis, the essence, of all other concepts deepened by the author. This relationship with Vigotski's basic concepts was not very present in the research analyzed. However, some were concerned about making such a relationship. Among them, we highlight D1, which makes clear the idea that ^{Vigotski (2001}) understands the subject not as a product of internal phenomena, nor as a reflection of the environment, but that the subject is constituted in the relationship with the other, in their incessant interaction with a social and cultural context. T3 highlights that culture occupies a decisive position in Vigotskian theory. Reaffirming his conceptions in dialectical materialism, ^{Vigotski (1995}) presents such an understanding, defining it as the product of human work, considering that the constitution of culture occurs in the intentional act of transforming nature and producing symbolic systems, in a historical movement of training. These are the marks of humanity, printed on the objects produced, on the signs created, on the way of understanding and relating that characterize culture. From this perspective, for ^{Vigotski (1995}), human consciousness is the result of complex psychological activity, formed during the subject's social history, in which language develops. Rejecting the notion of consciousness linked to psychoanalytic theory, the researcher refers, when using such a conception, to the ability to reflect on the outside world, formulate intentions and plan actions. Conscience is a determining conception for understanding what the characteristic of humanity is: it is not something given from within the subject, in a transcendental way. It is an understanding of oneself, one's own condition and the cultural interactions in which one is inserted that emerges from the relationships historically linked to the constitution of the sign.

T3 also highlights that ^{Vigotski (2001}) emphasizes that the learning generated by experiences contributes to the expansion of development, even if this is not immediately perceived. At this moment, mediation, the environment, and cultural experiences are potentially formative and will constitute new references for development. This process takes place, firstly, in the interpersonal sphere and then becomes an intrapersonal activity. Learning, in this sense, refers to the processes of appropriation of cultural and social knowledge, produced by the experience of individuals in their contexts, which generate changes in development. In this way, the more lived experiences and reflective processes established, the greater the possibility of appropriating socially constructed knowledge. Learning takes place in interaction situations, when we place ourselves in contexts that favor the expansion of our understanding of our work, our social roles and the humanizing dimension of our actions.

Regarding specifically the concepts of thought and language, T3 highlights that, for Vigotski, the constitution of human thought occurs through symbolic elaborations that the individual produces socially, which are internalized through mediating mechanisms. In this way, thinking is not restricted to the functional activity of the human brain, as it comprises the relationships that the subject establishes and the resources that he uses to structure his action in those contexts. In this sense, it is not enough to understand how the brain works if it is not considered, a priori, who is the subject who thinks through this organic structure. Furthermore, language, as understood by ^{Vigotski (2001}), is not only the expression of thought, but also the element that constitutes it. There is, therefore, a fundamental relationship between thought and word, in such a way that it enables the formation of thought, making it more capable of understanding the world and producing new signs, which, in turn, express its needs and desires, interfering in the culture and lived contexts. In this way, we can affirm that in Historical-Cultural theory it is the word that constitutes thought and is closely linked to it. It is neither prior nor subsequent to thinking, with synchronous construction processes taking place between the development of signs and ideas. T9 also understands that one of the foundations of the historical-cultural perspective is that knowledge is historically constructed in human interactions, through language. T8 indicates that, for ^{Vigotski (2007}), every object of knowledge is cultural and is present in social relations through the mediation of symbols and signs, that is, through words. D6 also points out that, for ^{Vigotski (2009}, p. 486),

[...] consciousness is reflected in the word like the sun in a drop of water. The word is to consciousness as the small world is to the big world, as the living cell is to the organism, as the atom is to the cosmos. It is the small world of consciousness. The word conscious is the microcosm of human consciousness.