Translation of Dreams from the Mother Tongue as Deeper Disguise of the Dream Content
J. S. Piven
American Imago June 1, 2026 DOI: 10.1353/aim.2026.a1002889 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | A Japanese subject (dreamer) whose three dreams are discussed |
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Key points | Argues that cross-cultural dream analysis is complicated by the dreamer's cultural and linguistic context and by translation itself, which can distort meaning and allow repressed content to further disguise itself. Uses three dreams of a Japanese subject to show that some dreams can be understood without specific cultural knowledge, while others are expressed and understood differently in the original language versus in translation. |
Abstract
Abstract: A dream's context and the dreamer's individual history, culture, and language, create a significant matrix for dreamwork. When analyzing the dream of a patient from another culture, we may not understand the associations of the dreamer, not only because we cannot discuss the imagery and feelings aroused by the dream, or because we are unaware of the cultural references, but also because the translation of the dream from the original language to our own may facilitate further distortions. While translation always includes distortions, in this case, the translation process itself may allow repressed content to further disguise itself. This paper will describe three dreams of a Japanese subject. The first dream is a simple example to sketch out the dream's dynamics. The second dream demonstrates how one can understand certain dreams without specific cultural knowledge. The final dream shows how the dream is expressed and understood in different ways when narrated in the original language and in translation by the subject.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dreaming: a conceptual framework for philosophy of mind and empirical research | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Metaphor and hyperassociativity: the imagination mechanisms behind emotion assimilation in sleep and dreaming | 2015 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Varieties of Lucid Dreaming Experience | 2000 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Experimental Research on Dreaming: State of the Art and Neuropsychoanalytic Perspectives | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Neurobiology of Consciousness: Lucid Dreaming Wakes Up | 2009 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |