1980 (translation, preface and notes by Leslie Smith).

 

Jean Piaget interviewed in February 1980 by Gilbert Voyat, with the assistance of and a paper by B. Inhelder.

 

Preface

By Leslie Smith

In February 1980,1 Gilbert Voyat interviewed Jean Piaget with contributions
from Bärbel Inhelder. The interview in French was recorded in two ways, on a
typescript and on film.

The typescript is stored at the Jean Piaget Archives, based at Uni-Mail in the
University of Geneva. I located it serendipitiously during a research visit to
the Archives in October 2010. It is not clear whether its audio-transcription
was made at the interview itself, or later from the film. There was only one
copy and I do not know whether it was the first or final draft, but it had not
been properly edited.

The film is available as a DVD in the Library of the University of Geneva
(Voyat, 1980). I located it through an online Library search in 2011. It was
made by the Centre Audio-Visuel Universitaire, probably from an original
video-tape. It has an over-dubbed English translation, attributed to Klaus
Schultz (1935-2000) at the University of Massachussets. I do not know
whether it was made from the audio-transcription used for the French
typescript or made independently. The Library Catalogue shows that the film
was intended for use in Inhelder's presentation at the next Meeting of the
Jean Piaget Society, i.e. its Tenth Meeting. Lynn Liben has confirmed that
the progamme shows "there was a 'SPECIAL EVENT' that was held on Friday
evening May 30th, listed as 'Videotaped Interview with Jean Piaget and
Bärbel Inhelder' " (Liben, 2011). The programme indicated that the event
would be introduced by Barbara Presseisen (2011) who has confirmed that
"I introduced the video in 1980". Neither of the Genevans actually attended
this presentation that was well received, as noted in a letter later in the
same year from Barbara to Bärbel: "over 200 Society members were at the
presentation and everyone was very stimulated by the ideas discussed in the
interview. We thought all three of you did very well" (in Liben 2011). A likely
explanation for their absence was the decline in Piaget's health — he died in
September 1980.

 

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