Elza Kučera i psihologija narodā – Völkerpsychologie

Ivana Skuhala Karasman -  Izvorni znanstveni članak 
Luka Boršić 

Elza Kučera and the Völkerpsychologie

Sažetak
Prva hrvatska eksperimentalna psihologinja, Elza Kučera (1883. – 1972.) napisala je, vjerojatno oko 1938. godine, tekst pod naslovom Moja teorija čuvstava i volje, koji je ostao u rukopisu. Ovaj članak usredotočuje se na metodu koja se pojavljuje u Kučerinu tekstu, no koju Kučera nije zasebno obrađivala: psihologiju narodā, poznatiju u njemačkoj inačici kao Völkerpsychologie. Ta je tema (ili metoda) bila osobito relevantna krajem devetnaestog stoljeća, no nakon Drugog svjetskog rata gotovo nestaje iz znanstvenog diskursa. U svom neobjavljenom tekstu Moja teorija čuvstava i volje Kučera se uglavnom pozivala i parafrazirala knjigu svog profesora i mentora s ciriškog sveučilišta Gustava Störringa (1860. – 1946.) Methoden der Psychologie des höheren Gefühlslebens (Metode psihologije višeg emocionalnog života).

Abstract
Elza Kučera (1883–1972), the first Croatian experimental psychologist, wrote a text – likely around 1938 – titled Moja teorija čuvstava i volje (My Theory of Feelings and Will), which remained unpublished in manuscript form. This article examines a particular method referenced in Kučera’s text, though not explicitly addressed by her: the psychology of peoples, more widely known by its German name, Völkerpsychologie. This approach was especially influential in the late nineteenth century but largely disappeared from scientific discourse after the Second World War. In My Theory of Feelings and Will, Kučera draws heavily on and paraphrases the work of her professor and mentor at the University of Zurich, Gustav Störring (1860–1946), particularly his book Methoden der Psychologie des höheren Gefühlslebens (Methods of the Psychology of Higher Emotional Life). Her engagement with Völkerpsychologie reflects the methodological hybridity of her work, which combines experimental psychology with philosophical inquiry. Kučera’s interpretation of the relationship between individual emotions and collective moral imperatives aligns with the hermeneutic dimension of Völkerpsychologie championed by Wilhelm Wundt. From this perspective, mental processes cannot be fully understood without acknowledging their cultural and historical rootedness.