Representações simbólicas e arquetipologia: análise crítica sobre as novas fronteiras de investigação na Ciência da Informação

Abstract

This study analyzes four researches based on the principles of the Clinical Approach of Information (ICA, or, in Portuguese, ACI) aiming to make a reflection about the contributions and limitations perceived in the research practices used by this methodological alternative. We begin with a brief background description of this approach and its underlying principles, the contributions from the four studies, and the potential consequences of a somewhat careless use of certain instruments in some study subjects. The limitations included confusion between notions of archetype and symbolic representation that the Archetypal Test with Nine Elements (AT9) may involuntarily induce in users, and the confusion made by this instrument between the notions of symbol and sign. The study’s conclusions corroborate the merit of the ACI and emphasize that some variables must be observed to guarantee a more reliable and faithful application of imaginary, symbolic and affective techniques as research instruments. The study’s conclusions suggest, also, alternative resources to overcome the difficulties Identified. It is intended that the strategies pointed out may lead to the discovery of explanations or solutions to the informational problems and, still using a symbolic bias, further increase the heuristic relevance of this research perspective.