The Mimetic Nature of Dream Mentation: American Selves in Re-formation

Description

Based on over a decade of research, this book connects dream studies to cognitive anthropology, to perspectives in the humanities on mimesis, ambiguity, and metaphor, to current dream research in psychology, and to recent work in economic and political relations. Traveling the dreamscapes of a variety of young people, Mimesis and the Dream explores their encounters with American cultures and the identities that derive from these encounters.  While ethnographies typically concern shared social habits and practices, this book concerns shared aspects of subjectivity and how people represent and think about them in dreams.  Each chapter grounds theory in actual cases.  It will be compelling to scholars in multiple disciplines and illustrates how dreaming offers insights into twenty-first century debates and problems within these disciplines, bringing a vital theoretically eclectic approach to dream studies. Series Editor’s Preface Acknowledgments Contents List of Figures Part I: A Mimetic Theory of Dreams 1: Mimesis and Dreaming: An Introduction Mimetic Dreaming Dreaming Cultural Models Dreaming the Self and Identities Supporting Research in Psychology Supporting Research in Anthropology American Ethnography and Anthropological Orientations The Place Data Collection and Methods References 2: Mimetic Strategies of Signification in Dreams Four Signification Strategies The Pinup Model of and for Feminine Sexuality Clara Indefinite Images/Altered Memories Questions Posed as Something Missing Finding Analogous Metaphors Combining a Primary and a Secondary Cultural Model Objectification and American Models The Subject/Object Axis Dream as Deep Play References 3: Mimesis in the Theater of Dreams Three Propositions Dreams as Meta-communicative Dylan Left Behind, Scene #1: Forgotten Left Behind, Scene #2: Memoirs Left Behind, Scene #3: The Kiss Left Behind, Scene #4: Climbing Upward Dream Mimesis as Complex Cognition References 4: Mimesis Makes for Ambiguity Types of Dream Ambiguity Clarence On Dream Rumination References Part II: Competing/Complementary Theories 5: Mimesis Makes Metaphors Julio A Sensory Metaphor Cultural Model Metaphors Personal Metaphors Identity, Abjection, and Internalization Identities as Mobile Structures Personal Metaphors and Personal Symbols References 6: Nightmares, or Threat Simulation as Mimetic Commentary Maria A Divided Self Alex Nightmares and Bad Dreams Nightmares, Development, and Anxiety Dreams References 7: Beyond Continuity and Social Simulation Lane References Part III: Mimesis and American Selves 8: The Close Family and American Cultural Psychodynamics Four Close Family Features Close Family Defenses Ruby American Porosity Model–Defense Connections References 9: Mirror-Phase Cultural Psychology and American Specular Selves The Mirror Phase and Specularity Specular Selves Specular Morality Charles Specular Identities and Interpellation Looking for the Inner Self Choice and Specularity Specularity and Cultural Theory References 10: Dreams, Mimesis, and Consciousness Model Clusters On the Nature of Dream Mentation Piaget and the Mimetic Faculty Mimesis and Development Stage #1: Sensory-Metaphor Dreaming Stage #2: Cultural Dreaming Stages 3 and 4: Identity Dreaming References Appendix: Cultural Methods of Dream Interpretation Chapter 2: Mimetic Analysis Chapter 4: Stage Analysis Chapter 4: Ambiguity Analysis Chapter 5: Metaphoric Analysis Chapter 6: Identity-Threat Analysis Chapter 7: Simulation Analysis Chapter 8: Dream Play Chapter 9: Dreaming Awry References Index