Analysis of the Form and Function of Dreams By《Eighty-One Dreams》

【Abstract】The《Eighty-One Dreams》was written by Zhang Henshui during the Anti-Japanese War. The work takes the form of dreams and appeals to the spiritual pursuit of intellectuals. The form of dreams gives different functions to dreams. The author integrates allegorical dreams into the modern spirit to penetrate reality and fantasize life.

【Key words】Dream; Function Allegory;《Eighty-One Dreams》

【作者簡介】齊梓璇（1994.08-），女，山東青島人，青島大學(xué)，文學(xué)院，碩士研究生，研究方向：中國古代文學(xué)。

According to Zhang Henshui， the novel has two realms： one is to narrate life， the other is to fantasize about life. 《Eighty-One Dreams》writes about the wandering in my dream in which Zhang Henshui extends the brushstrokes to the depths of the soul. In order to have substance in speech by supporting dreams， it breaks the boundaries between the real world and the spiritual world by the illusion of the plots and characters described in the dream， and it integrate the narrative life into the fantasy life to achieve an organic combination of reality and dream.

As people say“One dreams at night what one thinks in the day.”， dream is the representational activity in the brain caused by the local brain material not completely stopped during sleep which is the definition of dreams in the physiological sense. But the dream in the literary sense is an extension of the dream in the physiological sense. Dream， as a surreal existence in literary works， is a symbol of illusion. There are many strange dreams in the history of Chinese literature. These dreams are either to convey the will of the gods， to imply disaster and fortune， or to express the ideal realm of harmony between man and nature. In a word， they are all superstitious. In《Eighty-One Dreams》， Zhang Henshui breaks the stereotype of traditional “dream”， merges self-spirit into dream， changes the meaninglessness of traditional dream， makes the dream become the basic form of the text structure， and then gives the dream a unique text function.

1. The form of dreams makes the text have an allegorical function

Zhang Henshui deliberately pursues the allegorical nature of the text in《Eighty-One Dreams》， so that what he writes has a deeper meaning than the surface. There is an allegorical story in every dream， each story implies the dark side of society， and the dreams are intertwined， all of which permeate the philosophy of life hidden behind the surface. In the fifth dream ‘Extra-Extra’ there are always three extras whose influence was particularly evident in several negotiations between the landlord and me when I was looking at the house： first of all，I was very satisfied with the house， but the landlord’s arrogant and indifferent attitude and the rising house prices made me discouraged. But after the appearance of the two extras， the trading relationship between me and the landlord suddenly changed， when I was anxious to go home and report the good news， the landlord came out to give me a lower rent. In the process of telling the story， the author takes the landlord’s “chameleon” attitude and the businessman’s rising prices during national calamity as an example to show the different behaviors of different classes of people in times of national crisis， which implies profound philosophy of life. Although the works only describe the life patterns during the Anti-Japanese War and the relationship between people， the deeper purpose is to expose the inferiority of national self-interest above everything by using the allegorical function of dreams.

2. The form of dreams provides the author with a space for free narrative

Because the dream itself is illusory and unrealistic， Zhang Henshui can use his dream to break away from the restriction of realistic narration， describe strange dreams， liberate the narrative theme and form which providing fertile ground for the narrator’s free creation. Firstly， the illogicality of dreams enables the narrator to get rid of the shackles of external logic， transcend the boundaries of time and space， and narrate freely according to the purpose of his own creation. Because dream is an unconscious psychological phenomenon， the author can use this feature to break the restriction of its narrative content， and to some extent， they can transcend their narrative intentions on the surface to obtain higher levels of enlightenment. Thirdly， the unrealistic and irregular characteristics of dreams also provide the author with the possibility to exert himself at will， without paying attention to the so-called language logic， and without the restrictions of rules and regulations， making it possible to create absurd and dreamlike texts. Fourthly， the randomness of dreams also makes the narrator separate from the reader and changes the reality of pursuing the reader’s interest in reading. On the contrary， the author can create the text according to his own personality.