This special session focuses on exploring global dreams and visions, their cultural contexts in the Middle Ages, and their role in helping us understand contemporary social issues. The panel brings together scholars from various disciplines and approaches such as reception theory, translation studies, manuscript studies, and women and gender studies to examine the multifaceted aspects of medieval dreams and visions. By exploring divine messages, visions, and oneiric episodes, the panelists aim to gain a deeper understanding of how the past viewed different issues like gender, race, class, and environment, and how they continue to shape the world today.

The first talk proposes that dream and its interpretation can be used to question notions of equivalence and translatability, and revise understandings of Arab Enlightenment by factoring in dreams and insomnia instead of wakefulness, which is traditionally associated with the European project. The medieval Islamic tradition of dream interpretations forms the background of this talk, with time, sleep, wakefulness, and transcultural translations being central themes.

The second talk explores allegorical dream poems and their connection to theories of perception, specifically tracing the path of these theories through Arab authors and showing how they appear in the medieval allegorical dream poem. This talk also highlights how Christine de Pizan uses these theories to justify her ability to teach philosophy despite being a woman.

The third talk explores global medieval dream interpretation and puts the English dreambooks in conversation with Islamic and other sources. This talk provides a unique insight into how different cultures interpret and understand dreams, giving us a glimpse into the rich and diverse history of dream interpretation during the Middle Ages.

Each speaker will present for about 15 minutes, for a total of 55 minutes, including introduction of the panel and the speakers themselves. This will leave a total of 20 minutes for Q&A.

By analyzing how dreams were used to shape ideas about gender, race, and class in the past, this session hopes to shed light on how these issues continue to impact our society. Through their interdisciplinary approach, the speakers aim to inspire new ways of thinking about the significance of dreams and their cultural contexts, both in the past and in the present.

This proposed special session panel aims to examine the significance of dreams, visions, and imagination in shaping cultural beliefs and practices from a global perspective, building on current scholarship on these topics while expanding the scope of analysis. The panelists plan to draw on a range of interdisciplinary approaches to provide new readings and analyses of dreams, visions, and imagination in the Middle Ages, and to explore the intersectionalities of these phenomena across cultural and temporal boundaries. By examining the cultural, social, and political contexts in which these visions emerged, the panelists hope to offer fresh perspectives and insights that will help us to better appreciate their relevance for contemporary concerns. Additionally, the panelists intend to decenter European studies from medieval discussions and offer a more diverse and inclusive approach to the study of dreams. Ultimately, the panelists hope to facilitate a more comprehensive and inclusive understanding of the historical and global significance of dreams and visions, encouraging conversations on social justice issues that pertain to us all as intellectuals.