Handbook of Imagination and Culture [Paperback]

Imagination allows individuals and groups to think beyond the here-and-now, to envisage alternatives, to create parallel worlds, and to mentally travel through time. Imagination is both extremely personal (for example, people imagine unique futures for themselves) and deeply social, as our imagination is fed with media and other shared representations.

As a result, imagination occupies a central position within the life of mind and society. Expanding the boundaries of disciplinary approaches, theHandbook of Imagination and Cultureexpertly illustrates this core role of imagination in the development of children, adolescents, adults, and older persons today.

Bringing together leading scholars in sociocultural psychology and neighboring disciplines from around the world, this edited volume guides readers towards a much deeper understanding of the conditions of imagining, its resources, its constraints, and the consequences it has on different groups of people in different domains of society. Summarily, thisHandbookplaces imagination at the center, and offers readers new ways to examine old questions regarding the possibility of change, development, and innovation in modern society.

1. Imagination at the Frontiers of Cultural Psychology
Tania Zittoun and Vlad Gl&aveanu

SECTION I: CONCEPTUAL AND METHODOLOGICAL CLARIFICATIONS
2. The Philosophy of Imagination
Dorthe J?rgensen

3. Roots of Creativity: Variability Amplification through Persistent Imitation
Jaan Valsiner

4. Creative Imagination
Vlad Petre Gl&aveanu , Maciej Karwowski, Dorota M. Jankowska, and Constance de Saint-Laurent

5. Imagination - Methodological Implications
Lene Tanggaard and Svend Brinkmann

SECTION II: IMAGINATION AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
6. Imagination in Children Entering Culture
Sandra Jovchelovitch, Jacqueline Priego-Hernandez, and Vlad Petre Gl&aveanu

7. Playing anlãÙ