The twelve labors of Zora Neale Hurston: Myths, dreams, and the heroic interpretation of life.

Novelist and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston experienced a recurrent dream throughout her life, beginning in childhood. The dream consisted of about 12 “scenes” that she understood as prophesying important moments of her life. In this article, I consider the origin of the dream, its function in her life, the apparent relation of the dream contents to her waking life, and alternate versions of the important final scene of the dream. Hurston’s dream likely originated out of the tension between the young Hurston’s high intelligence, imaginativeness, and ambition, on the one hand, and the highly restrictive environment in which she lived, on the other. The dream seems to have functioned as a personal mythical narrative, which gave an overall sense of value and heroic purpose to Hurston’s life. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)
Source: Dreaming - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research