One core element of Jerome Bruner’s intellectual program is “the possible” as a crucial dimension of our psychological processes and a privileged locus to investigate the interconnection between culture and psyche. Bruner considers the undeniable value of the potential, of the hypothetical, and of what neither was nor perhaps will ever be, but which could have been. In this sense, the exploration of the realm of the possible is configured as the creation of alternative worlds that throw new light on the real world. Narrative is the way to foster our hypothetical thinking. Narrative thinking is strictly related to the imaginative function. A person organizes the world into narrative structures, exploring different possible interpretations of events. She locates experience into a spatial-temporal frame, looking for connections and justification, attributing intentions and motivation to the characters. Narrative structures become the sketch for the creative production of new scenarios. Cultivating the sense of what is possible in our cultural practices epitomizes the Brunerian constructivist vision of the human being as a future-oriented agent who strives to overcome the borders of actual reality toward new possible worlds.

Marsico, G., (2022). The Possible in the Life and Work of Jerome Bruner, In V.P. Glăveanu (eds). The Palgrave Encyclopedia of the Possible, Palgrave Macmillanm Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98390-5_245-1

Giuseppina Marsico
Writing – Original Draft Preparation
2022-01-01

Abstract

One core element of Jerome Bruner’s intellectual program is “the possible” as a crucial dimension of our psychological processes and a privileged locus to investigate the interconnection between culture and psyche. Bruner considers the undeniable value of the potential, of the hypothetical, and of what neither was nor perhaps will ever be, but which could have been. In this sense, the exploration of the realm of the possible is configured as the creation of alternative worlds that throw new light on the real world. Narrative is the way to foster our hypothetical thinking. Narrative thinking is strictly related to the imaginative function. A person organizes the world into narrative structures, exploring different possible interpretations of events. She locates experience into a spatial-temporal frame, looking for connections and justification, attributing intentions and motivation to the characters. Narrative structures become the sketch for the creative production of new scenarios. Cultivating the sense of what is possible in our cultural practices epitomizes the Brunerian constructivist vision of the human being as a future-oriented agent who strives to overcome the borders of actual reality toward new possible worlds.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11386/4779082
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