Overview

Throughout recorded time people have been fascinated by dreams and their meanings. Tribal societies value knowledge obtained from dreams and respect possession as a channel for revelation. In contrast, implicit in Western intellectual thought is an image of the human as a non-social atom with a unitary and rational mind, which turns dreaming into an epiphenomenon or, for Freud, a neurosis in miniature. Integrating materials from anthropology, post-Freudian psychoanalysis, social evolution and the social psychology of Mead, Cooley, James and Sullivan, this book offers a view of the self and the psyche that provides meaning to the views of traditional peoples on dreams, possession and the loss of self.

Full Product Details

Author:   Murray L. Wax
Publisher:   Rowman & Littlefield
Imprint:   Rowman & Littlefield
Dimensions:   Width: 14.80cm , Height: 1.10cm , Length: 22.80cm
Weight:   0.259kg
ISBN:  

9780847693757

ISBN 10:   0847693759
Pages:   182
Publication Date:   24 August 1999
Audience:   General/trade ,  Professional and scholarly ,  General ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Out of Print
Availability:   Out of stock  

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction: Nine Theses on Dreaming Part 2 Self, Psyche, and Dreaming Chapter 3 Evolutionary and Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Dreaming and Social Life Chapter 4 Theoretical Perspectives on the Socialized Self Chapter 5 Losing or Multiplying the Self via Dreams or Trance Chapter 6 Joseph, Freud, and the Judaic Tradition Part 7 Interpreting and Misinterpreting Dreams: Freud Brings Dreams into Biomedicine Chapter 8 Coca, Hypnotism, and the Return of the Primitive Chapter 9 Who are the Irmas? What are their Narratives? Chapter 10 Lost in a Strange City: Dora's Dreams; Freud's Fantasies Part 11 Conclusions Chapter 12 Dreams within Human Group Life: Western Rationality and the Angel of Dreams Chapter 13 Appendix: The Magic of Learning and Teaching

Reviews

For anyone who thinks about or works with dreams, especially clinicians wanting to break out of dogmatic molds, Professor Wax s book is a delight and an inspiration. Refracted through his multiple intelligences sociological, anthropological, and psychoanalytic the dream becomes a way into the soul of the dreamer, his inner and social world.--Jonathan Cohen, M.D.

Drawing on his broad interdisciplinary education in fields ranging from anthropology to psychoanalysis, Professor Wax sets out on a bold, independent course to counter the biases of authoritarianism and a reductionist pragmatism. In the process, he writes a bold, provocative study that explores dreaming as a symbolic activity that plays a central role in the evolution of the human being and his social relationships.--Patrick J. Mahoney

Author Information

Murray L. Wax is professor emeritus at Washington University, St. Louis.

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