ABSTRACT
The adult-child relation is an asymmetrical one. The chapter draws upon observations from the national background of Belarus and offers a phenomenological analysis of how the intergenerational asymmetry at issue is constituted via emotions, modes of communication and temporal structures of the adult-child co-existence, and how this asymmetrical experience defines existential tasks of upbringing. To achieve this the chapter will develop a philosophical (phenomenological) perspective on upbringing. This philosophical perspective differs from a phenomenological-pedagogical one in that the former allows for understanding structures and phenomena that constitute upbringing as a pre-theoretical intergenerational experience, whereas the latter thematises pedagogical experience and the learning process as a special practical field that presupposes corresponding theoretical reflections. Thus, the chapter is informative for pedagogigal theory and praxis due to the clarification of a pre-didactic basis of educational relation. In examining the emotional dimension of the adult-child co-existence, the chapter will focus on such basic emotions and feelings as anxiety, patience, curiosity, joy and some others. It will be shown that a fundamental emotional asymmetry in the adult-child relation implies certain (co)existential tasks to be fulfilled by the adult. In this regard, the author explores what communicative forms (tactics and practices) and what temporal structures can be considered the most relevant for these tasks.
