The art of dreaming

Abstract. The relationship between art and dream is at the origin of Freud’s dream theory. For example, Dora tells a dream in which she is in a foreign city, Dresden, where she is deeply fascinated by Raffaello’s Sistine Madonna. When Freud asks what fascinated her, she replies: "the Madonna". From this answer, Freud confirms his dream theory by interpreting that what struck Dora was the image of a virgin mother, i.e., frigid because she became mother avoiding the fantasy of the trauma of an incestuous relationship. Four interventions are published, that were read at the meeting "The art of dreaming. Stefano Benni and Alberto Merini discuss with Luigi Antonello Armando and Marianna Bolko on the occasion of the presentation of their book "The Forgotten Trauma. Dream Interpretation in the Psychotherapies: History, Theory, Technique" (Milan: FrancoAngeli, 2017", held at the "Library of Mental Health and the Human Sciences" of the "Gian Franco Minguzzi Institution" of Bologna, Italy, on March 12, 2019. The authors make the hypothesis that in her reaction to that painting Dora, instead, was looking for the creative capacity she needed in order to leave her home and her father. On the basis of this hypothesis, they investigate the possibility of going beyond Freud’s dream theory and his technique of dream interpretation.

Keywords: Dream; Art; Oedipus complex; Trauma; Enchantment]

Stefano Benni, Alberto Merini, Luigi Antonello Armando, Marianna Bolko, L’arte di sognare in "PSICOTERAPIA E SCIENZE UMANE" 2/2019, pp 281-284, DOI: 10.3280/PU2019-002005