Dreams and Dreaming-Related Phenomena in Danilo Ki?'s Novels

摘要

Descriptions of lucid dreaming, nightmares, sleep paralysis, and other dream-related phenomena were found in the novels "Garden, Ashes," "The Hourglass," and short stories written by the well-known European writer Danilo Ki? (1935-1989). Ki? provided a deep psychological insight into lucid dreaming. His literary examples of its use in the suppression of nightmares precede similar claims based on scientific research. Although Ki? could have acquired some knowledge about lucid dreams and nightmares from literature, his personal traumatic experiences were perhaps of even greater importance, as suggested by his biography; in particular, his traumatic childhood in exile, early loss of his father, and experiences of war terror and postwar perturbations. Implications of Kis's writings for theories of dreaming are also discussed.