Introduction

In his recent work, Ryle (Chapter 24, this volume) has introduced the idea of integrating object relations theory and activity theory. A specific aspect of this integrative perspective will be examined, implied in Ryle's work but not elaborated by him. It is the issue of sign mediation, Vygotsky's primary contribution to the methodological problems of modern psychology.

My aim is to show that object relations theory, especially the work of Winnicott, may bring fresh understanding to Vygotsky's early notions. I further claim that, by introducing the contribution of Mikhail Bakhtin and his circle to the notion of sign mediation, the profundity in Winnicott's understanding of the transitional object and of the potential space may be more fully appreciated. At the same time, Winnicott's and Bakhtin's ideas will jointly clarify limitations in Vygotsky's sign conception.

Ryle (Chapter 24, this volume) addresses the possibility of integrating object relations theory with activity theory by using the procedural sequence object relations model, developed by him in the context of an integrated approach to brief dynamic psychotherapy, the cognitive-analytic therapy (Ryle, 1982, 1990).

Ryle's attempt to transcend, by introducing activity theory, some of the limitations in a cognitivist understanding of mental functioning seems to open promising perspectives for examining the classical issue of the relations between psychoanalysis, psychology, and linguistics, addressed by Soviet psychologists in the 1920s (Voloshinov, 1976; Vygotsky, 1979). This early integration failed due to a number of limitations within both classical psychoanalysis and linguistics.