A General Introduction to PsychoanalysisFreud, Sigmund
Science
A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis
Freud, Sigmund
Psychoanalysis
6. The dreamer "_climbs a mountain from the top of which he has an
extraordinarily distant view_." This sounds quite sensible; perhaps
there is nothing about it that needs interpretation, and it is simply
necessary to find out which reminiscence this dream touches upon and why
it was recalled. But you are mistaken; it is evident that this dream
requires interpretation as well as any other which is confused. For no
previous mountain climbing of his own occurs to the dreamer, but he
remembers that an acquaintance of his is publishing a "_Rundschau_,"
which deals with our relation to the furthermost parts of the earth. The
latent dream thought is therefore in this case an identification of the
dreamer with the "_Rundschauer_."
Here you find a new type of connection between the manifest content and
the latent dream element. The former is not so much a distortion of the
latter as a representation of it, a plastic concrete perversion that is
based on the sound of the word. However, it is for this very reason
again a distortion, for we have long ago forgotten from which concrete
picture the word has arisen, and therefore do not recognize it by the
image which is substituted for it. If you consider that the manifest
dream consists most often of visual images, and less frequently of
thoughts and words, you can imagine that a very particular significance
in dream formation is attached to this sort of relation. You can also
see that in this manner it becomes possible to create substitute
formations for a great number of abstract thoughts in the manifest
dream, substitutions that serve the purpose of further concealment all
the same. This is the technique of our picture puzzle. What the origin
is of the semblance of wit which accompanies such representations is a
particular question which we need not touch upon at this time.
A fourth type of relation between the manifest and the latent dream
cannot be dealt with until its cue in the technique has been given. Even
then I shall not have given you a complete enumeration, but it will be
sufficient for our purpose.
Have you the courage to venture upon the interpretation of an entire
dream? Let us see if we are well enough equipped for this undertaking.
Of course, I shall not choose one of the most obscure, but one
nevertheless that shows in clear outline the general characteristics of
a dream.
A young woman who has been married for many years dreams: "_She is
sitting in the theatre with her husband; one side of the orchestra is
entirely unoccupied. Her husband tells her that Elise L. and her
bridegroom had also wished to come, but had only been able to procure
poor seats, three for_ 1 _Fl.,_ 50 _Kr. and those of course they could
not take. She thinks this is no misfortune for them._"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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