ABSTRACT

This chapter presents a reassessment of Sante De Sanctis 's dreams studies, by following upon Pigman's recognition that De Sanctis was the only scholar, Ellenberger, to have challenged Simund Freud's self-proclamation of being the first to identify the meaning of dreams and their high potential for psychological research. It explores De Sanctis's stance in relation to Freud's self-positioning as the unique pioneer of dream studies. The chapter investigates the relationship of De Sanctis's work with the research of other psychologists, namely of Janet who played an important role in the scrutiny of the unchartered regions of the subconscious. It illustrates the distinction that De Sanctis drew of the different levels of consciousness, particularly of the 'coscienza della veglia' and the 'coscienza onirica', and considers the elements which make his definition of the 'subscosciente' differ from Freud's notion of subconscious and unconscious.