Sleep and Folklore in Popular Culture

By: Dr. Franziska Kohlt, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Dr. Franziska Kohlt

It’s easy to dismiss dreams as “just dreams”—incoherent visions, disturbing, odd images that don’t really mean anything much. But in stories, myths, and fables, dreams are vital. They’re often used as a literary device to provide insights and foreshadowing. Through the dreams in stories, we get to the heart of deep philosophical, scientific, and religious problems. Dreams allowed writers to transcend boundaries and confront things otherwise off-limits.

In this eye-opening six-part series, Dr. Franziska Kohlt looks at the concept of dreams through the lens of the stories that feature them. You’ll visit the enchanted slumbering land of Sleeping Beauty and the dark and mysterious realm of The Sandman. You’ll explore the ironic dreaming devices of Slaughterhouse-Five; the trippy, fantastical world of Alice in Wonderland; and many more on the quest to deconstruct the symbolism and intent of the dreams that are part of the narrative—or even, in some cases, that are characters in the narrative.

Join Dr. Kohlt in exploring your favorite books, stories, comics, and myths, and gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of them by shining on a light on the parts of the tale that happen in the dark.

©2022 Audible Originals LLC (P)2022 Audible Originals LLC

Interesting

This course is interesting and will provide the reader with much insight into the subject matter.

Follow the Golden Thread

There are those of us, myself included, who by dint of spending half their lives buried brain-deep in equations and computer code, have not made sufficient time for myth and narrative and dreams. The thing about Plato's cave is (and our author leverages this story nicely for her own purposes) you might congratulate yourself for living outside amongst the sun, but that does not mean that what's inside isn't interesting and, as part of the totality of what is, worth spending time with. If this sounds like you, this book is the perfect introduction, so go exploring. Pull the golden thread into the dreamy depths.

Wonderful (if you give it a chance)

Though Dr. Kohlt trips over her words and pacing (which was off-putting to me early on), once you get into the information this is really quite fantastic! I'm looking forward to applying what I learned here to my favorite genres to see these influences in them.

This is one that I'll definitely be listening to again!

Fascinating

Terrific program. Made an arcane subject understandable, relevant, and enjoyable. Lots of examples. Something for everyone.

Lots of information, but...

I have complicated feelings abour this cource. The material is interesting, but the information here is about everything and nothing at the same time.

Big messups

Her big messup with Tantalus almost made me DNF this right at chapter one. He wasn't punished for the stealing of food, he was punished for killing and cooking his own son. Very big mistake to make, which made me think she isn't serious at all.

Lovely fascinating work

Dr Kohlt narrates a fascinating overview of dreams and literature and story.
You will find many favorite storytellers mentioned here (and for some folks maybe a new author or two to look into)
It covers the nature of dreams, and how they impact us
Very accessible and the time will fly as you listen
Highly recommended

This was something I didn’t expect

I’ve had a long-standing interest in dreams as someone who had recurring nightmares and night terrors. Over the course of my life, I realized that I began to devalue my dreams and the content in them. This book reminded me of the reasons I used to pay attention to them and make an attempt to decipher them in an attempt to get to know my inner landscape all the more.

This short audiobook from the great courses is a nice way to get your feet wet, and get the wheels turning and thinking about dream symbolism and how it works its way into the fiction that inspires and is inspired by real life. If you have an interest in any of this, I would definitely recommend it

Good book to put you to sleep

Felt like the author got sidetracked half way through trying to prove a point that wasn’t necessarily important.