THE INTERPRETATION OF DREAM:

ON KUNDERA'S "LIFE IS ELSEWHERE"

By Adhari Koara
 THE
INTERPRETATION
OF DREAM ?
SIGMUND FREUD

Freud was an Austrian neurologist and

the founder of psychoanalysis, who
created an entirely new approach to the
understanding of the human
personality. He is regarded as one of the
most influential - and controversial -
minds of the 20th century.

BBC - History
 Psychoanalysis : when applied to
human being

Psychoanalytic criticism = when it is

applied to literary works
 Dream = Literary Work

To what extent the dream work is

linguistic?
 OEDIPUS COMPLEX IS A PSYCHOLOGICAL
TERM COINED BY SIGMUND FREUD TO
DEFINE A PHASE IN CHILDS
PSYCHOSEXUAL DEVELOPMENT BETWEEN
THE AGES OF 3 AND 6 [IN WHICH THE
CHILD] DEVELOP SEXUAL AND LIBINAL
FEELINGS TOWARD THE PARENT OF THE
OPPOSITE SEX AND HOSTILE FEELINGS
TOWARD THE PARENT OF THE SAME SEX
(BRESSLER, 353).
By Bnigne Gagneraux - Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18737455
Hi.. I'm Kundera
 Hi.. I'm
Jaromil
 XAVIER LIVED IN A COMPLETELY
DIFFERENT WAY FROM OTHER PEOPLE; HIS
LIFE WAS SLEEP; XAVIER SLEPT AND HAD A
DREAM; IN THAT DREAM HE FELL ASLEEP
AND HAD ANOTHER DREAM AND IN THAT
DREAM HE SLEPT AGAIN AND HAD STILL
ANOTHER DREAM; HE WOKE UP FROM THAT
DREAM AND FOUND IN THE PRECEDING
DREAM; HE THUS WENT FROM DREAM TO
DREAM AND LIVED SEVERAL SUCCESIVE
LIVES; HE LIVED IN SEVERAL LIVES AND
PASSED FROM ONE TO THE OTHER.
(KUNDERA, 167)
I'm Xavier
Xavier = Jaromil ?
1. Jaromil's childhood
and his relationship
with his mother
 A FEW DAYS LATER SHE NOTICED NOT ONLY
FATIGUE BUT ALSO SADNESS IN HER SONS
DEJECTION. THAT RECONCILED HER SOMEWHAT
WITH HIM AND GAVE HER HOPE: SHE TOLD
HERSELF THAT GIRLFRIENDS WOUND MOTHER
COMFORT; SHE TOLD HERSELF THAT GIRLFRIENDS
ARE MANY AND A MOTHER IS ONE AND ONLY. I
MUST FIGHT FOR HIM, I MUST FIGHT FOR HIM, SHE
REPEATED, AND FROM THAT MOMENT ON SHE
BEGAN CIRCLING HIM LIKE A VIGILANT,
COMPASIONATED TIGRESS
... HE GUESSED THAT THE WORD EPHEBUS WAS
APPLIED TO SOMEONE YOUNG AND THAT THE
YOUTH IT REFERRED TO WAS NOT THE AWKWARD
AND THE DEGRADING KIND HE HAD UNTIL NOW
EXPERIENCED BUT RATHER A YOUTH BOTH
VIGOROUS AND WORTHY OF ADMIRATION. WITH
HER USE OF THE WORD EPHEBUS THE STUDENT
DID HAVE IMMATURITY IN MIND, BUT AT THE
SAME TIME SHE RELIEVED IT OF ITS INEPTNESS
AND TURNED INTO A SUPERIORITY.
(KUNDERA, 99)
2. the type of women he
is attracted to
HE JUMPS INSIDE TO GET THE GIRL,
BUT THEN THE HUSBAND COMES IN,
AND XAVIER LOCKS HIM INTO HEAVY
OAK WARDOBE. THE HUSBAND IS
THERE TO THIS DAY, TURNED INTO
SKELETON. AND XAVIER TAKES THE
WOMAN WAY
3. his character as a
person
 ILL STRANGLE YOU IF ANYONE
EVER TOUCHES YOU, HE SAID AND
HE STILL HAD HIS HAND AROUND
THIS GIRLS THROAT; HE WAS
THRILLED TO FEEL THE GIRLS
POSSIBLE NONEXISTANCE IN THIS
CONTACT; HE THOUGHT THAT AT
THIS VERY MOMENT , THE REDHEAD
REALLY BELONGED TO HIM
 CONCLUSION
1. Dream = Literary Fiction

2. Jaromil suffers Oedipus complex

THANKS FOR LISTENING