The Art of Dreams

How to delineate our forays into the world of the unconscious? There seem to be two ways: Unveiling the hidden meaning of dreams or experimenting with means of representation for this force that determines our sleep. In this book, the essays explore both attempts. We all dream; we all share these strange experiences that infuse our nights. But we only know of those nightly adventures when we decide to represent them. In the long history of coming to terms with dreams there seem to be two different ways of delineating our forays into the world of the unconscious: One is the attempt of interpreting, of unveiling the hidden meaning of dreams. The other one is not so much concerned with the relation of dream and meaning, of dream and reality, it rather concentrates on trying to find means of representation for this extremely productive force that determines our sleep. The essays collected in this book explore both attempts. They follow debates in philosophy and psychoanalysis and they study literature, theatre, dance, film, and photography.