On Dreams

“Condensation” refers to the way a dream conflates information and ideas. For example, a person in a dream may consist of various smaller parts of many different people. Freud suggests that dreams are uniquely capable of condensing ideas presenting symbols that can be traced to myriad experiences and memories.

Freud uses the term “dramatisation” to reference the expression of dream thoughts into condensed narrative. The process is theorized to further obscure repressed memories or desires through a dream narrative to make it more difficult for the dreamer to identify them in real-world terms.

Dream thoughts and dream content combine into a narrative that is called “dream composition.” Freud suggests that dream composition is a way for the mind to make the symbols of dream content intelligible. Freud refers to dream composition as a “façade” that makes the narrative more palatable to the conscious mind.