Phenomenological narrative analysis of dreams and the Dreamworld Principle: From Husserlian perspective

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel method for the phenomenological interpretation of dreams from a Husserlian perspective. The method, termed phenomenological narrative analysis of dreams, comprises four distinct steps. First, it involves a Jung’s story-structured analysis, followed by the second step of an analysis inspired by the concept of “another world” prevalent in popular culture. These narrative analyses set the stage for the subsequent phenomenological examination. The third step entails a phenomenological analysis in the narrow sense, where dream texts are translated by tracing the “Dreamworld Principle” backwards. This principle suggests that in dream worlds, various re-presentations (anticipation, recollection, fantasy, sign and picture consciousness, etc.) are converted into presentations (actual experiences, primarily perception), drawing on Husserl’s analysis of intentionality, which will be elaborated later in this paper. In the fourth step, synthesis, the translated dream texts are integrated, revealing the underlying psychological reality of the dream. Finally, the paper provides a brief glimpse into some of the relationships to other dream theories, such as psychoanalytic, evolutionary, and neurocognitive ones. This analysis is intended not only for use by clinicians, academic researchers, but also for anyone interested in dreams and writing, and as an example it is applied to the author’s own dreams from a personal dream diary website.