Dream Poems, Experiential Narrative, and the Continuity Hypothesis
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UNIVERSITY OF CANBERRA CAUGHT IN THE DANCE: DREAM POEMS, EXPERIENTIAL NARRATIVE, AND THE CONTINUITY HYPOTHESIS Niloofar Fanaiyan Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Canberra 2015 Contents Form B ............................................................................................................................. iii Abstract .............................................................................................................................. v Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... vii Part One .............................................................................................................................................. 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 2 The Dream Poem ........................................................................................................................ 5 Methodology and the Creative Product ...................................................................................... 6 A Further Prelude ....................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter One – Dreams and Dreaming ............................................................................. 13 In The Beginning ...................................................................................................................... 13 Post-Jungian Developments ..................................................................................................... 20 The Function/s of Sleeping Dreams ......................................................................................... 29 Sleeping Dreams as Signifiers .................................................................................................. 32 Chapter Two – The Narratological Framework ............................................................... 35 What is Narrative? .................................................................................................................... 35 Fludernik and ‘Natural’ Narratology ........................................................................................ 43 Cognitive Narratology .............................................................................................................. 46 Narrative and Dreams ............................................................................................................... 47 Narrative and Life .................................................................................................................... 52 Chapter Three – The Self, Character, and Narrative ....................................................... 53 The Self and Character ............................................................................................................. 53 Autobiography, Memory, and Fictionality ............................................................................... 59 Narrative Identity and Continuity ............................................................................................ 61 The Dreamer, the Poet, and the Narrator .................................................................................. 64 Chapter Four – Poetry and Narrative ............................................................................... 67 What is a Poem? ....................................................................................................................... 67 Segmentivity ............................................................................................................................ 69 Narrative and Poems ................................................................................................................ 70 A Scale of Narrativity .............................................................................................................. 72 ‘Natural’ Narrative and Poetry ................................................................................................. 73 Experimental Narrative ............................................................................................................ 78 Chapter Five – Literary Dreams and Dream Poems ........................................................ 83 The Middle Ages and the Renaissance..................................................................................... 84 The Nineteenth Century Onwards ............................................................................................ 95 i Dreams and Literature ............................................................................................................ 104 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 107 Part Two ......................................................................................................................................... 115 Caught in the Dance ....................................................................................................... 116 References ...................................................................................................................... 239 Appendix ........................................................................................................................ 253 Sample Dream Reports ........................................................................................................... 253 ii Abstract This thesis explores the efficacy of the dream poem as a narrative device and is the outcome of practice-led research. The creative component, a novella, includes significant dreams of the main characters in the form of lyric poetry. The author’s own dream reports are used as source material for the poetry, and are contextualised within a prose fiction framework. Caught in the Dance is an experiment in combining prose with dream poetry and in investigating the experiential power of dreams on the formation of character identity. The exegesis discusses dreaming as an experience and the place of that experience in the context of identity narratives. Central to this discussion is the continuity hypothesis regarding the symbiosis of waking and sleeping life. Fludernik’s theory of experiential narrative is applied to dreaming and to the composition of poetry. This theory moves the emphasis of narrativity from events and the action of telling to ‘grounding narrativity in the representation of experientiality’ (Fludernik 1996:20). Ricoeur’s theories on identity and narrative are also applied to the reading of dreams, and experiences in general. He calls the system through which we ‘read’ life the ‘semantics of action’ (Ricoeur 1991b:28). Fludernik’s and Ricoeur’s approaches build on each other and they are brought together in the context of theories of the self, consciousness, and the processing of experience. Lyric poetry, as a creative product of that same consciousness, is discussed as experienced narrative moment. Furthermore, those moments are identified as defining elements in the identity narratives of characters. By combining the experience of dreaming with the experience imparted through lyric poetry, this thesis argues that the continuity hypothesis serves effectively as a demonstration of the wider narratological importance of experiential narrative. v Acknowledgements The completion of this thesis would not have been possible without the generous assistance and guidance of my supervisory panel: Associate Professor Anthony Eaton (chair), Associate Professor Paul Magee, and Distinguished Professor Jen Webb. I am grateful for their constant encouragement, and their support and kindness. The thoughtful feedback that they provided, for both the novella and the exegesis, has helped shape this thesis into a final product. I would like to thank Dr John Davidson, of The University of Tasmania, for his generous assistance with my research of dreams and dreaming, and for always being happy to talk ‘dreams’. I would also like to thank Professor Paul Hetherington, and fellow PhD candidates Owen Bullock and Navid Sabet, for kindly providing feedback on many of the poems. Dr Patrick Mullins deserves a special mention for generously proof reading most of this manuscript. To the crew of 20B18 (especially Macarena de la Vega and Shane Strange): thank you for the laughs, the sobremesa, and your friendship. To my dear sister Melodi: thank you for always knowing exactly when to call, for always being happy to read my work, for having the most awesome dreams (in every sense of the word), for believing in me, and for your love and friendship. Lastly, and most importantly, Mum and Dad: thank you for always being there for me, for instilling in me a love of stories and poems, for your inspiring fortitude, for your unconditional love and support, and for simply being my parents – thank you. vii Part One 1 Introduction Even the man who wants ‘a nice story’ might be willing to follow the writer in the adventures of the dream because he cannot deny that dreaming belongs to a reality shared by both of them. It could in fact be the only reality they have in common. (Almansi & Beguin 1987:3) The seventeenth century philosopher Blaise Pascal questioned the separation of waking and dreaming experience. He left behind a collection of thoughts on dreaming and waking life which was published