Dreams and the Representation: Media, History and Culture

Organizer: ARAKI Hiroshi, Professor

　Dreams relate profoundly to various cultural phenomena, and the aspects of this relationship are broad and diverse. The aim of this collaborative investigation entitled “Dreams and the Representation” is to analyze the phenomena of dreams in Japanese culture, and develop analytical methodology for transcultural and general research.
　The relationship between the terms “Dream” and “Representation” is direct and inevitable, but the terms may also correspond more loosely. For this reason, these two concepts are juxtaposed to orient the extent and direction of this interdisciplinary study.
　“Dream” is an important keyword in the study of cultural history. To study the themes inherent in this keyword from an interdisciplinary viewpoint, our project is therefore undertaken by a number of scholars with diverse specializations in fields such as, but not limited to, literature, history, art, religion, and time theory.
　Dreams are represented visually in many different cultural contexts, in various styles and media, and their representation changes according to social and historical situations. In particular, the pictorialization of dreams offers interesting possibilities. For example, the “speech balloon” (or bubble) is a popular device for depicting speech acts in picture books and manga, and a significant symbolic image in contemporary culture. Historically, however, speech balloons also seem to have a close relationship with the visualization of dreams.
　Spirituality and the externality of human thought has become a topic attracting much interest. Between 1999 and 2002, Araki, this project’s leader, organized a collaborative research project entitled “Internal Mind” and “External World”: Expression, Tradition, Belief and Myōe’s Dream Diary. This project inherits some of the thematic issues raised then, such as the internality and externality of mind and the close connection it has with the representation of dreams. We plan to re-read Myōe’s Dream Diary in tandem with members of other domestic and overseas study groups.
　Furthermore, our project proposes, or dreams, to build a database collection of the research on dreams to further develop the research environment. During this three-year project, relevant guest speakers will be invited, and collaboration with several external study groups are planned for the mutual exchange of similar research.