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Cited by 29Creativity in Education and NeuroscienceSleep and Wakefulness ResearchAustralian Indigenous Culture and History

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 52 of the 52 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Dreams, memory, and the ancestors: creativity, culture, and the science of sleep

Glaskin, Katie·2011·Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
DOI 10.1111/j.1467-9655.2010.01668.x
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Abstract

Ethnography from Aboriginal Australia attests to the significance of dreams in the creation of new songs, designs, and ceremonies. In this article, I examine the relationships between dreams, memory, and creativity in ritual, design, and song creation. Advances made in neuroscience mean that, increasingly, scientists are able to map neural activity occurring in different sleep phases. Can this capability help us to understand the emergence of creativity, such as that which appears to have its origins in dreams? Drawing on cognitive psychology and neurophysiology, I argue that much of the creativity that emerges from dreams is contingent on memory. Memory is both biological and cultural, so culture is implicated in how dreams are imaginatively shaped, remembered, reported, and experienced. Thus, an important link between the apparently autonomous aspects of dreams and the resulting creativity that has been reported in many cultures around the world, in ethnography and by dreamers themselves, is the encultured work of memory. Résumé: L’ethnographie de l’Australie aborigène témoigne de l’importance des rêves dans la création de nouveaux chants, dessins et cérémonies. L’auteure examine ici les relations entre rêves, mémoire et créativité dans la création de rituels, de dessins et de chants. Grâce aux progrès des neurosciences, il est possible de cartographier de plus en plus précisément l’activité neuronale dans les différentes phases du sommeil. Cet outil nous aidera‐t‐il à comprendre l’émergence de la créativité lorsque celle‐ci semble prendre sa source dans les rêves ? À partir des données de la psychologie cognitive et de la neurophysiologie, l’auteure affirme qu’une grande partie de la créativité née des rêves est liée à la mémoire. La mémoire étant à la fois biologique et culturelle, la culture intervient dans la manière dont l’imagination donne forme aux rêves et dont le sujet se souvient de ceux‐ci, les relate et les vit. Le travail de mémoire intégré dans la culture constitue donc un lien important entre les aspects apparemment autonomes des rêves et la créativité qui en résulte et qui a été rapportée dans de nombreuses cultures du monde, que ce soit dans l’ethnographie ou par les rêveurs eux‐mêmes.

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Crossref · 10.1111/j.1467-9655.2010.01668.x

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Citations

Cites

Research works printed but not linked: 19

  1. Barrett D., 2001, The committee of sleep
  2. Hartmann E., 2003, Sleep and dreaming: scientific advances and considerations, 158
  3. Leach J., 2007, Creativity and cultural improvisation, 99
  4. Lohmann R.I., 2007, The new science of dreaming, 35
  5. McConnel U., 1926, The significance of the snake in dreams, Psyche, 6, 12
  6. Malot R.1964.Aboriginal dreams. Honours thesis University of Western Australia.
  7. Merlan F., 1997, Fighting over country: anthropological perspectives (CAEPR Research Monograph 12), 1
  8. Neath I., 2003, Human memory
  9. Pentony B.1938.The dream in Australian culture. Honours thesis University of Western Australia.
  10. Revonsuo A., 2003, Sleep and dreaming: scientific advances and considerations, 85
  11. Schneider D.M., 1969, The dream life of a primitive people: the dreams of the Yir Yoront of Australia (Anthropological Studies 1), 12
  12. Schneider D.M., 1969, The dream life of a primitive people: the dreams of the Yir Yoront of Australia (Anthropological Studies 1)
  13. Sharp L., 1969, The dream life of a primitive people: the dreams of the Yir Yoront of Australia (Anthropological Studies 1), 57
  14. Spencer B., 1896, Report on the Work of the Horn Scientific Expedition to Central Australia (Part 1), 1
  15. Stickgold R., 2003, Sleep and dreaming: scientific advances and considerations, 223
  16. Tonkin E., 2005, Mixed emotions: anthropological studies of feeling, 55
  17. Van de Castle R.L., 1994, Our dreaming mind
  18. Vertes R.P., 2003, Sleep and dreaming: scientific advances and considerations, 75
  19. Whitehouse H., 2005, Mixed emotions: anthropological studies of feeling, 91

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Metadata

Authors
Glaskin, K.
Affiliations
The University of Western Australia (AU)
Corresponding author
Glaskin, Katie
ORCID
Glaskin, Katie
Venue
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2011-02-05
Volume
17
Issue
1
Pages
44-62
ISSN
  • 1359-0987 (ISSN-L)
  • 1467-9655
DOI
10.1111/j.1467-9655.2010.01668.x
OpenAlex
W1586150887
Cited by
28
References
52
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2019: 5 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 1 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 3
FWCI
2.89
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor)
Locations
  • Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (publishedVersion)
  • UWA Profiles and Research Repository (UWA) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Creativity in Education and Neuroscience
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
  • Social Sciences › Anthropology › Australian Indigenous Culture and History
Keywords
dreams, memory, creativity, Aboriginal Australians, songwriting, ritual, design, enculturation, cultural memory, neuroscience of creativity

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