Imagination in the Work of Vygotsky / La imaginación en la obra de Vygotski

Abstract

This introduction first describes the background to this Special Issue: an in-depth study of the evolution and place—more important than it appears—of Vygotsky’s concept of imagination, resulting in the publication in French and Portuguese of a book including all relevant Vygotskian texts on imagination (1926–1933/2022 and 2025) and in an international seminar during which the contributions gathered in this volume were proposed. These contributions are then briefly presented. The opening text deals with the development of the concept of imagination through its dialectical stakes. This is followed by a first group of texts on the role of imagination in teaching: learning to write, conceptualizing the shadow produced by the sun, reading literary texts. The second group of texts explores play and the imaginary situation through the understanding and uses of contemporary authors; then, play and a rethinking of its origins in early childhood through the construction of the will; and finally, play as it transforms affects by “derealizing” them through imagination where they become active affects, opening the way to the role of art in the creation of intelligent emotions.