Deep Experiencing: Dialogues Within the Self

This Brief brings together empirical accounts that contribute to the investigation of the cultural phenomena of deep personal experiences. It examines everyday life experiences and its influence on the development of successful social interactions. Issues of silence, the subjective feelings of opportunities, and culturally canalized feelings of “being here” or “being influenced by others" are all deep personal experiences that are rooted within the framework of cultural psychology. By bringing together the discourses of Dialogical Self Theory (DST) and Cultural Psychology of Semiotic Mediation for a new generation of researchers who address issues of this phenomenon, chapters aim to link phenomena-saturated empirical accounts with general theoretical innovations. In addition, the Brief studies socially relevant issues from the lenses of Cultural Psychology. Topics featured in this Brief include: Globalization and its effect on identity and personal experiences. The subjective nature of opportunities. Migrating identities across generations. Serious illness and its influence on communication. Deep Experiencing will be of interest to researchers, professors, and graduate students in the fields of psychology, cognitive psychology, medicine, anthropology, social work, and aesthetics.

About the Author

Olga V. Lehmann is a Ph.D candidate in psychology, from NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Her main areas of interest include: humanistic and existential psychology, cultural psychology, Dialogical Self Theory, idiographic science arts and aesthetics. Some of her research topics include silence in everyday life, affect, poetic instants, communication in health care contexts and promotion of quality of life. She is editorial member of Culture&Psychology , Psychology&Society , and the International Journal for Dialogical Science . She is the Lead Editor of “Poetry and Imagined Worlds” (Palgrave McMillan), and “Deep Experiencing: Dialogues within the Self” (Springer), as well as author of “Acompañar la Finitud” (San Pablo, 2014) and “The Cultural Psychology of Silence” (forthcoming).

Jaan Valsiner is Niels Bohr Professor of Cultural Psychology at Aalborg University, Denmark. He is the founding editor (1995) of the Sagejournal, Culture&Psychology , and of The Oxford, Handbook of Culture and Psychology (2012). He is also the Editor-in-Chief of, Integrative Psychological and Behavioural Sciences (Springer, from 2007) and the SpringerBriefs series, SpringerBriefs in Theoretical Advances in Psychology . In 1995 he was awarded the Alexander von Humboldt Prize in Germany for his interdisciplinary work on human development, and Senior Fulbright Lecturing Award in Brazil 1995-1997. He is the winner of the Hans-Kilian-Award of 2017 for his interdisciplinary work uniting social sciences.  He has been a visiting professor in Brazil, Japan, Australia, Estonia, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, Norway, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.