‘Horrible Dreams’: Conceptions of Bad Dreams in Late Nineteenth-century Finland
Abstract
The article examines conceptions of nightmares in late nineteenth-century Finland, as reflected in a short story called Släktingar emellan (‘Between Relatives’, 1886) written by Anders Allardt (1855–1942). In the story, Allardt describes the everyday life and plights of the rural population in southern areas of Finland (Nyland). It is suggested that conceptions of nightmares consisted of various temporal and ideological layers. An older folk view of nightmares as nocturnal conditions caused by a supernatural extrabodily being, known as a mara, was still recognised. It was also believed that a melancholic disposition predisposed people to nightmares. However, Släktingar emellan also reflects more novel conceptions of bad dreams that considered strong negative emotions and thoughts, as well as anxieties experienced while being awake, as the cause of nightmares. These distressing thoughts and emotions could be related to both moral and worldly issues. Nightmares that became chronic could eventually lead to the onset of insanity. Even according to this more ‘psychological’ conception of nightmares, which regarded the causes of bad dreams as originating from the human themselves instead of being externally induced by supernatural extrabodily agents, the body and the soul, as well as bodily and mental ailments, were still fundamentally linked to each other.
Keywords: (conceptions of) nightmares; (conceptions of) bad dreams; mara; 19th-century Finland; Anders Allardt
