The possibility of a new human: Vygotsky and the Russian avant-garde

Abstract

The possibility of a new human: Vygotsky and the Russian avant-garde. – This article examines points of convergence between Lev Vygotsky’s thought and the early Russian avant-garde in relation to the project of the “new man”. It first reconstructs their shared philosophical foundations, especially their grounding in Marx’s concepts of praxis, dialectics, and the formative role of social relations and cultural environment, with partial reference to Spinoza. It then outlines Vygotsky’s cultural-historical theory and his account of psychological development as a process of internalizing social and cultural tools. The core of the study is an interpretation of Vygotsky’s Psychology of Art, in which art is understood as an instrument of psychic transformation that produces aesthetic response and catharsis through the tension between form and content. This framework is subsequently applied to selected examples of the Russian avant-garde (Kandinsky, Malevich, Tatlin, Avraamov), highlighting their formative and pedagogical potential. The conclusion addresses the contemporary relevance of both Vygotsky and the avant-garde for cultural and educational practice, especially the question of consciously shaping environments that form human subjectivity.