“DREAM” BY MIHAI EMINESCU – BETWEEN DREAM AND REVELATION
“DREAM” BY MIHAI EMINESCU – BETWEEN DREAM AND REVELATION

Summary/Abstract: This paper starts from the premise that Eminescu's 1876 poem, called "Dream", is in fact a transcription of a "real" dream or, as George Călinescu says, "the notion of a dream must be taken in a broad sense, as an analogy. There is a waking perception of the universe, a logical kind of knowledge. Oneiric and irrational perception is inconsistent and symbolic. It places the spirit directly in the middle of the elementary process, without taking a reflexive pause. Whether this perception is found in vision, myth or poetry, the thing does not imply a difference of essence. […] Oneiric poetry is distinguished by the fact that the poet's subjectivity, which is basically an intelligible factor, is absorbed by the objective symbolism of the dream, surpassing any artistic initiative. The dreamer is simply a tool in the hands of the dream”. (Călinescu, 1970, p.204. My translation) However, we will detach ourselves from Călinescu’s interpretation, which sees poetry as an example of autoscopy ("that is, to see yourself objectively as reflected in a mirror”). The interpretation will be a Jungian one, based largely on information obtained from Carl Gustav Jung's book - "The Image of Man and the Image of God".

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