The dreams that migrants experience at crucial points in their lives, such as when they are undergoing depression or illness, express their sense of belonging, which is undergoing transition and change. In this paper, we examine three cases of such transitional dreams of Greek migrants abroad. The dreams are based on collective and cultural memory and are expressed through an idiom of culturally recognized and communally shared images and symbols. Such dreams thus become the means by which migrants experience clashes and problems in their current lives and seek solutions to these matters. Migrant dreams of transition, then, are liminal experiences, oriented towards the future and are expressive and strategic methods, by which migrants dissociate themselves from a previous state and orient themselves towards incorporation into a new identity. This orientation is achieved partly through sharing the interpretation of their dreams with other members of their culture, in a process of discourse and negotiation of personal and cultural identity.
Dreams of Transition in Greek Migrant Experience
24 Aug 2012
by Archaeology Newsroom
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