On Dreams

Sigmund FreudThe Commercial Press1996

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Summary

On Dreams (German: Über den Traum; English: On Dreams) is a short work published by Freud in 1901, generally regarded as a condensed, popularized version of his 1900 magnum opus The Interpretation of Dreams (Die Traumdeutung). Freud was well aware of how dense and sprawling The Interpretation of Dreams was, so he wrote this little book separately to introduce the core points of his dream theory to general readers in a clearer, more readable style. The book discusses in turn: the relationship between dreams and waking life; where the material of dreams comes from; the stimuli and sources of dreams; why dreams are forgotten after waking; dreams as wish fulfillment; the distortion of dreams (that is, dream censorship); several mechanisms of the dream-work, such as condensation, displacement, symbolic representation, and secondary revision; and the psychological explanation of the dream process, including concepts such as the unconscious and consciousness, the primary process and the secondary process. Though brief, the book sketches a fairly complete outline of the basic framework of the psychoanalytic method of dream interpretation, and is widely recognized as the easiest entry point into Freud's dream theory. In Chinese translations, this text is often published together with The Interpretation of Dreams as an "appendix"; the Commercial Press edition of The Interpretation of Dreams (translated by Sun Mingzhi) in its "Chinese Translations of World Academic Classics" series includes this text.

Editor's review

如果你想读懂弗洛伊德的梦理论，又担心被《释梦》七百多页的篇幅吓退，《论梦》就是最合适的第一步。它是弗洛伊德亲手写下的“简写本”，把愿望满足、梦的化装、凝缩与移置、象征与润饰这些核心概念，压缩在一次可以读完的篇幅里。原书1901年面世后不久，它便成为弗洛伊德被译成外语的著作之一，足见其“入门读本”的定位。值得注意的是，这部小书并非随意的通俗改写，而是弗洛伊德本人的自我浓缩，因此它的术语与思路与《释梦》一脉相承，读完再回看全本，会顺畅得多。中译本方面，商务印书馆“汉译世界学术名著丛书”版《释梦》（孙名之译）将《论梦》作为附录收入，一册在手即可对照阅读，既省去寻书之劳，也便于把简本与全本互相印证。对于心理学爱好者、文学与艺术研究者，以及所有想弄明白“梦究竟在说什么”的读者，这都是一部性价比极高的经典小品。

Who it's for

A good fit for

想入门弗洛伊德梦理论、又不愿直接啃《释梦》全本的读者
心理学、精神分析方向的学生与研究者，可作为原著精读的铺垫
对潜意识、象征与梦的意象感兴趣的文学、艺术创作者
希望把经典理论读完而不半途而废的普通读者

Not a good fit for

期待现代睡眠科学、脑成像研究等当代实证内容的读者
希望获得“解梦词典”式具体梦境吉凶对应的人
对精神分析持根本否定态度、只想找批判性著作的人

Reading tips

先通读一遍，抓住“梦是愿望的满足”这一主线，不必纠结于个别梦例细节。
读完可再对照《释梦》原书相应章节，看弗洛伊德如何在长篇中展开同一论点。
随身准备笔记，把凝缩、移置、润饰等术语各用自己的话复述一遍，检验是否真懂。
结合自身近期的梦做一次小心翼翼的自我分析，但不必把书中结论当作诊断标准。

About the publisher

The Commercial Press China · Founded in 1897

The Commercial Press is a publisher known for classic works and academic publishing, with titles spanning Eastern philosophy, foreign literature, world history, social culture, and applied psychology. Its list includes classical commentaries such as Zhu Xi's Collected Commentaries on the Analects and Wang Bi's Commentary on the Zhouyi, as well as modern annotated translations like Zhuangzi with Modern Notes and Translation. In foreign literature it offers War and Peace and Crime and Punishment, while in world history it carries Braudel's The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II. Applied psychology is represented by Irvin D. Yalom's Existential Psychotherapy, and ethical texts include a Greek-Chinese-English edition of the Nicomachean Ethics. Its authors and translators include Zhu Xi, Wang Bi, Yalom, Braudel, and translators such as Huang Zheng, Zhang Yiling, Shen Dongyu, and Tang Jialong, balancing the editing of original texts with academic translation.

FAQ

《论梦》和《梦的解析》（《释梦》）是同一本书吗？

不是。《论梦》是弗洛伊德1901年发表的短篇著作，是《释梦》的精简改写版，用来向普通读者介绍其梦理论；《释梦》则是1900年出版的系统巨著。中译本中，《论梦》常作为《释梦》的附录一并印行。

这本《论梦》的中文版由谁翻译？

商务印书馆“汉译世界学术名著丛书”版《释梦》（孙名之译）将《论梦》作为附录收入，因此该文的中译通常署名孙名之。若购买单行本或收入选集的版本，译者信息以版权页为准。

没有心理学基础能读懂吗？

可以。这正是弗洛伊德写这部小书的初衷：用更简明的语言概述梦理论。书中术语较多，但配合具体梦例阅读，入门读者基本能跟上主线。

书里的解梦方法今天还适用吗？

作为精神分析史与人文思想的经典，它仍有重要的阅读价值；但现代睡眠与认知神经科学对梦的解释已有所不同，建议把它当作理解弗洛伊德思想的入口，而非临床诊断手册。

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About the author

Sigmund Freud Author · Austrian · 1856–1939

Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis. Born in Freiberg, Moravia, he studied medicine and practiced in Vienna, where he developed theories of the unconscious, dream interpretation, psychosexual stages, and the Oedipus complex, exerting a profound influence on modern psychology and the humanities. His major works include The Interpretation of Dreams, Totem and Taboo, and Civilization and Its Discontents. This collection contains twenty-five related titles spanning inspirational growth, social psychology, psychological research, and applied psychology. After Nazi Germany annexed Austria in 1938, he fled to London, where he died the following year.