SIGNATURE WORK
CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION 2023

The study of dreams is intriguing for the difficulties in simply knowing the dreams. This paper delves into the epistemological process of knowing one’s dreams as well as their representations. I argue that dreams require to be comprehended not only interpretively, but also descriptively. In order to describe the dreams, one needs to resolve their apparent unintelligibility. This process is thus more complex than ordinary memory experience, and I name it as retrospection. I further argue that retrospection contains a recollection process and an imaginary process prompted by it, for the latter assists with the sense-making of our epistemic situations in dreams. Retrospection, in terms of its representational features, can be sketched out into three stages: dream impressions and feelings, self-ascribed attitudes, and dream descriptions. Compared with written or verbal dream reports, audiovisual forms of dream reports can represent the multiple layers of retrospection more comprehensively. Filmic techniques adopted in cinematography, editing, and sound design enable the revival of our dream experience. Moreover, the experience of fluid perspectives of self and shifting identification in dreams and in films suggests a profound connection between them. Filmed dreams are more than a fabricated cinematic artifact, but an effective way of revealing the essential features of real dream experience.