On the concept of perezhivanie in Cultural-Historical Theory

Context and relevance. The article examines the evolution of the concept of perezhivanie in Lev Vygotsky’s cultural-historical psychology and in subsequent developments within his scientific school. Results. It is shown how this concept acquires a specific theoretical status: from early aesthetic writings, where perezhivanie functions as a form of emotional—semantic generalization of experience, to later works in which it is defined as a dynamic unit of consciousness and a “prism” of the social situation of development. The paper traces the transfer of the problem of perezhivanie from the analysis of art to the context of developmental psychology and defectology, and clarifies the relation between perezhivanie and the transformation of the structure of consciousness in ontogenesis. Special attention is paid to interpretations of perezhivanie in the Russian cultural-historical tradition, including the works of L. I. Bozhovich, D. B. Elkonin, and F. E. Vasilyuk, as well as contemporary methodological clarifications concerning the distinction between perezhivanie as a psychological phenomenon and as a theoretical concept (A.D. Maidansky, V.V. Rubtsov, N.N. Veresov). Current applied directions of using the concept of perezhivanie in educational research and studies of the “drama of development” are discussed. Conclusions. The article concludes that perezhivanie performs a systemic integrative function in cultural-historical psychology, linking personality, environment, affect, and meaning in the analysis of development.