Memory and imagination as meaning-making processes: Developmental trajectories of culture in mind

Abstract

We introduce memory and imagination as conceived by cultural psychology as related processes of meaning construction. Memory is a reconstructive process that brings the past into the present for the purposes of action. Imagination is the quintessence of meaning creation in that it enables us to distance ourselves from the here and now and reconfigure our thoughts and feelings in relation to the world. This chapter draws parallels between these processes by highlighting: (a) their relation to a holistic, developmental, and felt experience; (b) meaning as it develops through dialogical movement that encompasses time (past-present-future) and space (inside-subjective and outside-intersubjective); and (c) the challenge of apprehending the subjective meaning dimension.