The Aymara of the Andes use absolute (cardinal) frames of reference for describing the relative position of ordinary objects. However, rather than encoding them in available absolute lexemes, they do it in lexemes that are intrinsic to the body: nayra (“front”) and qhipa (“back”), denoting east and west, respectively. Why? We use different but complementary ethnographic methods to investigate the nature of this encoding: (a) linguistic expressions and speech–gesture co-production, (b) linguistic patterns in the distinct regional Spanish-based variety Castellano Andino (...) (CA), (c) metaphorical extensions of CA’s spatial patterns to temporal ones, and (d) layouts of traditional houses. Findings indicate that, following fundamental principles of Aymara cosmology, people, objects, and land—as a whole—are conceived as having an implicit canonical orientation facing east, a primary landmark determined by the sunrise. The above bodily based lexicalizations are thus linguistic manifestations of a broader macro-cultural worldview and its psycho-cognitive reality. (shrink)

While individuals interact, they coordinate their feelings and emotions. They also coordinate several kinds of expression while interacting, like facial expressions and gestures. Inspired by Karl Bühler’s Organon model and Henri Bergson’s description of remembering experiences, we explore interpersonal coordination during a collaborative remembering task between two people. We present a case study of one dyad employing videography to identify and distinguish two types of spontaneous interpersonal coordination. In a later stage, separate interviews of both participants are analyzed to establish (...) whether content, freely remembered, is related to the previously observed coordination. The data describes that expressive-affective coordination during interaction is directly linked to the subjective organization of experience in individual remembering. We discuss these results, emphasizing the intersubjective aspects of lived experience and their relationship to expressive and representational aspects of coordination and remembering. (shrink)

Complex systems theory has become one of the main frameworks to understand, model and explain interactional phenomena such as interpersonal coordination. In her paper, Butler (this issue) applies this approach to theorise about coordination at large, including human interactions. We argue that the all-encompassing language of complex systems theory leads to overemphasising the physical aspects that human interactions share with other coordinated systems in nature. This emphasis ultimately disregards the meaningful dimension implied in any human movement, understanding it as mechanical (...) motion, rather than expressive actions. (shrink)

In this article, I examine Vygotsky’s holism by considering his usage of ‘microcosm’ and chronicling the term’s origin and development. This exploration leads first to Spinoza’s monism as the primordial source of Vygotsky’s holism. Then, I present the notion of microcosm in the context of German Romanticism and J. W. Goethe. Humboldt’s Cosmos and Lotze’s Microcosmus are presented as 19th-century exemplars of the holistic tradition. Finally, I examine Vygotsky’s usage of the term ‘microcosm’ and argue that this concept cannot be (...) fully understood outside the long tradition of holism in western philosophy. This understanding helps to explain apparent contradictions in his texts as well as affinities with his contemporaries’ philosophy of life and German holistic approaches. (shrink)