Simpsons and Freudian Dream Theory

Why Freud? Why The Simpsons??

     Sigmund Freud published The Interpretation of Dreams in 1899, outlining key ideas that would later form his theory of pychoanalysis-- a foundational theory for modern psychology.  In The Interpretation of Dreams, Freud postulates that one's dreams are not simply meaningless fantasies, but actually have a specific structure and serve a specific function.  Freud posited that decoding the logic and language of dreams could provide deep and useful insight into the dreamer's psyche.

     The Simpsons, and American cartoon sitcom, first aired in 1989 and is one of the longest-running series on television today.  Often satirical, self-referential, headline-pulling, or pop-culture-laden, its narrative can reveal much about the values and ideologies of modern American life.  
     
     More to the point, The Simpsons frequently incorporates dream sequences into its episodes.  Often, these are decodeable using Freudian analysis-- even to the extent that important themes or plot points are explained using dreams.   

     The goals of this project are 3-fold:
  1. To provide an overview of Freudian Dream Analysis using examples from The Simpsons
  2. A little circularly, to provide convincing evidence that The Simpsons is drawing upon Freud's Theory of Dreams in order to communicate themes, ideas, characterizations, and plot points
  3. To use data from The Simpsons to explore the manifestation of Freudian concepts in pop culture
The work cited and referenced for this project:
  Freud, S. (1913). The interpretation of dreams. MacMillan Co, MacMillan Co, New York, NY. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/10561-003