ABSTRACT
The study of dream beliefs in other cultures offers not only piquant observations of varieties of ways in which different cultures conceive of dreams and use them-in the anthropological mode-but also perhaps some perceptions that can expand the people understanding of the phenomena of dreaming itself. Dreaming constitutes a space which is in a problematic relationship with waking life space. The relationship of dream space to living space differs from culture to culture. To recognize a set of cultural beliefs about dreams as constituting a theory of dreaming, or of some aspect of the dreaming process, requires a very close understanding of the native theory itself and of the precise aspect of the dream to which each specific term or belief refers. This chapter examines some of the ways in which anthropologists have approached dreams in other cultures, and some of the ways in which these approaches can add to our understanding of dreaming.
