Voices of the Mind

The main contention of this book is that human mental functioning, including all forms of thought and communication, is embedded in cultural, historical and social processes. This thesis contrasts directly with the current popular practice in psychology in which mental processes of the isolated individual are examined before sociocultural influences are considered; it is Professor Wertsch's argument that the individual emerges out of the social. His argument centres on the cultural tools, especially l anguage, which shape both social and individual processes. Drawing on the ideas of two Soviet scholars, Lev Vygotsky and Mikhail Bakhtin, he introduces the concept of the "voice" of the mind and contends that human speaking and thinking inherently involve the process of "ventriloquating" through the voices of other, socioculturally-situated speakers. "Voices of the Mind" breaks new ground in its introduction of an alternative theory of human communication which incorporates both "inner" and "outer" speech in its analysis of the psychology of language.
It addresses major issues in cognitive development and educational practices and suggests ways of integrating the study of human development with analyses of gender and cultural identity.