The functions of dreams in E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Meister Floh (1822)

Book section : Chapter

Meister Floh presents a spectrum of dream states, beginning with childish day-dreaming and culminating in a revelatory night-time dream. While this dream allows the protagonist to achieve heightened self-understanding, it also solves a narrative riddle for the reader. The following chapter explores the dual function of dreams in Hoffmann’s story. Most obviously, they play a role in the hero’s psychological development. But they are also used as a structural narrative element. Filled with easily recognisable images from the cultural reserve of Romantic myth, dreams in Meister Floh invite the Romantically initiated reader to decode the meaning of the text. This double function means that Hoffmann participates in the Romantic creation of a collectively accessible dream world, while respecting the symbolic meaning of specific dreams for individuals. The tale presents an understanding of dreams which encompasses the individual’s psychological progression without detracting from the belief in the collective pre-conscious existence that informs the reader’s comprehension.

Authors: Neilly, J

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Königshausen & Neumann
• Host title: Eyes Wide Shut: Dream Cultures in German Enlightenment and Romanticism
• Series: Cultural Dream Studies
• Series number: 10
• Place of publication: Würzburg, Germany
• Publication date: 2024-07-29
• Edition: 1
• ISBN: 9783826089176
• Language: English
• Subtype: Chapter