An Alphabet for Dreamers - by Sharon Sliwinski (Hardcover)

About the Book

"How dreams serve as one of our most powerful ways of seeing, understanding, representing- and radically changing our world"--

Book Synopsis

A captivating and trailblazing look at how dreams serve as one of our most powerful ways to understand--and radically change--our world.

Borrowing from the traditional alphabet book genre for children, An Alphabet for Dreamers provides adult readers with a new grammar for dreams, or what neuroscientist Sidarta Ribeiro calls "oracles of the night." In this book, Sharon Sliwinski restores dreaming to its proper place as an important worldmaking activity, one that offers a gateway to another way of seeing. Each of the short chapters engages a dream from the historical record--from both the recent and distant past--to show how these experiences can help make sense of profound social conflicts and transform our shared reality.

Thinking alongside the dreams of powerful exemplars--from Harriet Tubman to contemporary Indigenous activist Abigail Echo-Hawk--readers come to understand how dream life is a crucial resource for generating new worlds and new ways of being. The book brings together urgent concerns from the domains of critical theory, visual culture, and mental health to show how dreaming serves as a vital source of knowledge and a critical mode of thinking.

As with traditional alphabet books, illustrations provide an integral voice. Each chapter of the book is accompanied by an original watercolor painting by Melinda Josie that visually underscores the way dreams serve as a unique medium for processing our lived experience. Together, the images and text form a delicate dialogue, drawing attention to the details of the central scenes, extending the book's special mode of thinking in painted form.

By working alongside dreamers from the past and present, An Alphabet for Dreamers begins a new and much-needed conversation about the social and political importance of dream life.

Review Quotes

"In this highly original and playful book, Sharon Sliwinski is concerned with nothing less than how dreams can help us change the world. Explored as an everlasting source of critical knowledge, she shows us that dreams can be understood as acts of resistance, paths to self-empowerment, and reparative practices."
--Christiane Solte-Gresser, author of The World of Dreams: A Journey Through All Times and Culture

"An Alphabet for Dreamers is a stunning and powerful book. Departing from Freud's view that the true meaning of a dream is a hidden wish-fulfillment, Sliwinski takes dreams to be potent and transparent messages for social change, inspiring Nelson Mandela in his work against apartheid and Harriet Tubman in her work in the Underground Railroad. Dreams for Sliwinski point the way toward righting a world that is out of joint."
--Noëlle McAfee, author of Feminism: A Quick Immersion

"A thought-provoking invitation to attend to dreams as collective reflections on the social. Sliwinski creatively mobilizes the genre of the alphabet book to delve into the rich tapestry of dreams while exploring epistemologies alternative to those privileged by modernity."
--Aylin Kuryel, coeditor of The Future of Cultural Analysis: A Critical Inquiry

About the Author

Sharon Sliwinski is Professor of Information and Media Studies at Western University in Canada. Her previous books include Human Rights in Camera, Dreaming in Dark Times, and Photography and the Optical Unconscious.