Ouverture
1. Prophet
The Gomel Years (1896-1913)
A Jew Admitted to Imperial Moscow University
Literary Criticism (1914-1916)
Beba Vygodskii: The "Young Jewish Prophet"
The Russian Revolution (1917-1918)
Lev Vygodskii during the Russian Revolution
The Great War (1914-1918) and its Aftermath
In Ukrainian Gomel in 1918
2. Bolshevik
Gomel during Russian Civil War
The "Cultural Front," Marxism, and the "New Man"
Lev Vygotsky in Gomel in 1919-1921
New Economic Policy (NEP) and the Birth of the Soviet Union
Vygotsky as a Publisher, Political Activist, and Theatrical Critic (1922-3)
3. Reflexologist
Vygotsky Teaches and Lectures
Vygotsky’s Entrance into Psychology
The Teaching about Reflexes: Pavlov’s and Bekhterev’s Research Methods
Vygotsky’s New Method: "Double Stimulation"
Vygotsky and Reflexology
Second Psychoneurological Congress as a Landmark
4. Psychologist
Alexander Luria: Vygotsky’s Alter Ego
Vygotsky’s Comeback in Moscow
Marxist Practicality and the "New Science"
The Variety of "New Psychologies"
The Trip to London and its Aftermath
Vygotsky’s Three Books
Psychology as a Science about the Superman
Vygotsky—Luria Circle: People and Institutes
"Instrumental Psychology"
Unexpected Discoveries: Word Meaning, Dialogue, and Inner Speech
The Outcomes of the Decade of 1920s
5. Revisionist
Stalin’s Great Break and Cultural Revolution
Vygotsky’s Life and Career at the Turn of the Decades
IX International Psychological Congress and its Impact
Towards a New Psychological Theory
The Demise of "Reactology"
Criticizing Vygotsky
Vygotsky Criticizes... Vygotsky
Expeditions to Central Asia of 1931 and 1932
Revisionist Conclusion
6. Holist
The Challenge of the Totality: Holistic Gestalt Psychology
Kurt Lewin’s "Galileian" Psychology
The Vygotsky-Luria Circle in 1930s
Major Theoretical Reconstruction and New Experimentation
"The Threshold of a New Theory": The Pessimistic Finale
Epilogue. Genius
Timeline of landmark events
Glossary
Conventions and acknowledgements
Bibliography
Biography
Anton Yasnitsky, Ph.D., is an independent researcher who specializes in the Vygotsky–Luria Circle. He has coedited (with René van der Veer et al.) The Cambridge Handbook of Cultural-Historical Psychology (2014), Revisionist Revolution in Vygotsky Studies (2015), and Vygotski revisitado: una historia crítica de su contexto y legado (2016).
"This is the first thorough coverage of the life and work of this Russian-Jewish scholar since my work with René van der Veer over twenty-five years ago (Understanding Vygotsky, 1991). Vygotsky’s psychological theories, based on his deep feelings on theatre and literature, continue to fascinate scholars worldwide. Yasnitsky has clearly emerged as the new world leader in doing careful analytic work on Vygotsky’s heritage." - Jaan Valsiner, Aalborg University, Denmark
