Pinpointing Dream Settings Onto Place Cookies

Abstract

Dream reports are short pieces of text, where a dreamer summarizes the remembered experience of nightly dreams. Dream cartography addresses especially the spatial information contained in dream reports. In this context, the current formalization of space in GIScience such as points, lines, polygons, or labels, including place names or addresses, is not sufficient for mapping dream settings. In the best case, dream reports mention place names or streets. However, usually, the perception of space in dreams is designated in terms of whether this is familiar or not, inside or outside, safe or threatening. Moreover, basic comparisons between dream settings are meaningless with classic space definitions. This lead us to a different approach of space: the personal circles of places or, with a nickname, the place cookie. Here, the dream setting can be pinpointed at a certain distance from the centre of the cookie, which represents the familiarity of the setting to the dreamer.