Između jave i sna / Between Reality and Dream Narcissistic Dream

Abstract

The Story Der Garten der Erkenntnis (1895) by the Austrian author Leopold von Andrian is colored by a dreamlike atmosphere and, as such, points to the importance of the dream phenomenon among Viennese modernists even before Freud’s revolutionary study Die Traumdeutung (1900) served as a template for literary dreams. Erwin, the protagonist, although travelling through cities, does not embark on life and opposes sleep; his perception of the outside word is “narcissistic”. Erwin is in search of knowledge of the world; however, his view on his path to cognition becomes increasingly subjective, resulting in an encounter with his doppelganger. And his struggle with the doppelganger does not take place in his dream, but in his dreamlike reality. In this paper, the question arises as to what the dreamlike reality is, why does Erwin flee to it and what consequences are left on on him and the perception of the world around him.