Not as it Seems: Using Deleuzian Concepts of the Imaginary to Rethink Children's Drawings

Abstract

Deleuze states in his 1990 work Negotiations that signs are realised in ideas. Although Deleuze referred to cinema, his thinking about signs and ideas can apply to drawings. Cinema is moving imagery and drawing is static; however, both are informed and constructed from realised ideas that continue to shift beyond the artefact. Theories about children's drawings have historically pertained to establishing schematic universalities rather than acknowledging the agglomerative connections they make to the multiple things occurring around a drawing as it is created. Universal schemas persist within early childhood art discourses despite the growth of critical theory research into other aspects of childhood. Deleuze's assertions about the signs and classifications of cinema help to contest notions of schematic development – that is, that children should progress through particular iconic drawing stages at particular ages. Deleuze's quotations and thoughts on the imaginary and imagination are referenced to interrogate ‘scientific’ knowledges and the gathering of evidential truths about children's intellectual growth and development. Four examples from a dataset of drawings from a pilot study undertaken by the author that tested the methodological potential of intergenerational collaborative drawing in early childhood settings facilitate focused discussion on the above contestations.