The anomalous development of the child

René van der Veer

pp. 155-175

in: Ekaterina Zavershneva, René van der Veer (eds), Vygotsky's notebooks, Berlin, Springer, 2018

Abstract

This chapter is based on a notepad with a hard green cover with an illustration of a caduceus and the heading "Notes." Part of the pages have been lost, and a number of the statements have been crossed out, which in all likelihood means that they found their way into manuscripts that were to be printed. Paragraph headings in bold script have been added by the editors. The notepad presumably dates from the end of 1930 to early 1931. It shows that Vygotsky and his associates worked in various directions using the system principle. Of special importance are the comments on Vygotsky's talks on anomalous development. It is unknown when and where exactly these talks were given, but it seems likely they were so-called internal talks for a small group of colleagues. The questions and comments are interesting because they were seldom published.