An exercise on dream starting from Jean-Claude Izzo’s novel: A Sun for the Dying

Abstract

Starting from a dream which the French writer Jean-Claude Izzo describes in one of his most famous novels named “A Sun for the Dying” - a dream as a crucial turning point for the entire development of the plot - the article aims to perform a “philosophical exercise” on the phenomenon of dream in wider terms, with a special consideration for psychoanalytic contributions. I will try to highlight differently the process of dream creation, especially the role of nightmare as its crucial element. Additionally, I will discuss the temporal structure of dreams with regard to one’s lifetime.
In conclusion, I will shed light on how psychoanalysis could be an important instrument, not only to read and comment the overall novel, but also to focus on single details of the written work in a different way. The last part of this essay briefly explores a new perspective on the famous Freudian dream of Irma’s injection, in line with the contents debated in the previous chapters. Nevertheless, other contributions, taken mainly from art, cinema, and philosophy, will be employed according to my personal inspiration.