When does a dream begin to ‘have meaning’? Linguistic constraints and significant moments in the construction of the meaning of a dream
Journal of Analytical Psychology October 25, 2005 Maria Ilena Marozza 2 citations
Dreams acquire meaning only when they are translated into language, according to this philosophical and psychoanalytic inquiry. The author distinguishes the dream as it is actually experienced from the remembered and narrated version, proposing a two-step phenomenology that acknowledges the dream's objectivity while tracing meaning to its linguistic articulation. After reviewing neurobiological theories, the paper examines psychoanalytic approaches, especially interpretations grounded in intersubjectivity and phantasy, arguing that meaning does not reside in the dream itself but emerges through relational and linguistic processes.