"The flash of awakened consciousness": dream images in Freud and Benjamin.
Anat Tzur Mahalel
The International Journal of Psychoanalysis August 2026 DOI: 10.1080/00207578.2025.2525581 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Sigmund freud Walter benjamin Dream images Dream interpretation |
| Key points | Argues that Freud and Benjamin share a foundational premise: turning a blind eye to the obscure and unknown dimensions of individual and collective experience fosters crises and destruction, while striving to reveal these hidden areas promotes transformation. Reading Freud's dream of the burning child and Benjamin's ghost dream, the essay contends that dream images, even amid loss and rupture, can open pathways to new realms of experiencing and remembering. |
Abstract
This essay explores the role of visual images in dream imagery as a space where unconscious processes intersect with historical forces. It offers a comparative reading in Freud's Interpretation of Dreams (1900) and Benjamin's Arcades Project (1982). Freud conceptualizes dream images as condensed memory traces that navigate between perception and hallucination, revealing repressed desires. Conversely, Benjamin's dream images critique modernity's loss of aura, offering moments of "Now-Time" as opportunities for historical creation. The essay argues that both Freud and Benjamin share a foundational premise: turning a blind eye to the obscure and unknown dimensions of individual and collective experience fosters crises and destruction, whereas striving to reveal these hidden areas promotes transformation. Exploring disruptions and ruptures in the continuity of experience challenges the inclination to act according to Freud's concept of repetition compulsion or Nietzsche's eternal return, as interpreted by Benjamin. These ideas are explored through the dream of the burning child presented by Freud and the ghost dream presented by Benjamin. The dialectic of insight and blindness, alongside the image of open doors in both dreams, invite us to consider how, even amidst loss and rupture, dream images can open pathways to new realms of experiencing and remembering.