A fantasy world, that exists only in our minds, provides us a place where we can mentally escape from everyday reality. Escapism, such as indulging in daydreams, allows us to experience comfort and makes us feel safe, eliminating feelings of insecurity and vulnerability. This study aims to use playfulness and reverie as a tool to access and confront mental discomforts. Transforming disturbing situations into an experience of reverie; a correction of unsatisfying reality, by converting a solid component of the real world into a desirable infinite form will provide alternative viewpoints. Throughout my work, this method has been employed to address personal phobias, violent conflicts, political insecurity, and racial inequality. It is my hope to employ daydreaming as a form of serious play to provide a new way of perceiving unsatisfying reality.

O trabalho aqui proposto consiste na realização de uma leitura de O Lustre, de Clarice Lispector, publicado em 1946 e uma de suas obras menos estudadas pela crítica. O segundo romance da autora narra a história de Virgínia, moça do campo que cresce no casarão da família, localizado nas terras de Granja Quieta. Após atingir a idade adulta, a personagem parte para a cidade grande. Nosso foco está em estudar aspectos da configuração de Virgínia que persistem e são retomados, ao longo do enredo, por meio de sonhos, devaneios e lembranças, com especial atenção para os traços do passado que retornam e permanecem, com alterações, no presente. Nessa direção, quando a estrutura do texto permitir, aspectos teóricos da psicanálise, analogicamente, serão de grande valia para sua interpretação. Além disso, outras questões importantes e recorrentes na obra de Clarice Lispector serão abordadas, tais como a morte, a infância, o desejo e, no que diz respeito à estrutura da narrativa, o modo como o narrador muitas vezes assume o ponto de vista da personagem, confundindo-se com ela. / This research aims to analyse O lustre, by Clarice Lispector, published in 1946 and one of her works less studied by critics. The authors second novel tells the story of Virginia a countryside girl who grows up in the family mansion, located in the grounds of Granja Quieta. After reaching adulthood, the character part to the big city. Our focus is on studying aspects of Virginias configuration that persist and are retaken along the plot, through dreams, daydreams and memories, with special attention to the traces of the past that return and remain, with changes, in the present. In this direction, when the structure of the text permits, theoretical aspects of psychoanalysis, by analogy, will be of great value for its interpretation. In addition, other important and recurring issues in the Clarice Lispectors work will be addressed, such as death, childhood, desire and, concerning the narrative structure, the way the narrator often takes the point of view of character, confusing himself with her.

O trabalho aqui proposto consiste na realização de uma leitura de O Lustre, de Clarice Lispector, publicado em 1946 e uma de suas obras menos estudadas pela crítica. O segundo romance da autora narra a história de Virgínia, moça do campo que cresce no casarão da família, localizado nas terras de Granja Quieta. Após atingir a idade adulta, a personagem parte para a cidade grande. Nosso foco está em estudar aspectos da configuração de Virgínia que persistem e são retomados, ao longo do enredo, por meio de sonhos, devaneios e lembranças, com especial atenção para os traços do passado que retornam e permanecem, com alterações, no presente. Nessa direção, quando a estrutura do texto permitir, aspectos teóricos da psicanálise, analogicamente, serão de grande valia para sua interpretação. Além disso, outras questões importantes e recorrentes na obra de Clarice Lispector serão abordadas, tais como a morte, a infância, o desejo e, no que diz respeito à estrutura da narrativa, o modo como o narrador muitas vezes assume o ponto de vista da personagem, confundindo-se com ela. / This research aims to analyse O lustre, by Clarice Lispector, published in 1946 and one of her works less studied by critics. The authors second novel tells the story of Virginia a countryside girl who grows up in the family mansion, located in the grounds of Granja Quieta. After reaching adulthood, the character part to the big city. Our focus is on studying aspects of Virginias configuration that persist and are retaken along the plot, through dreams, daydreams and memories, with special attention to the traces of the past that return and remain, with changes, in the present. In this direction, when the structure of the text permits, theoretical aspects of psychoanalysis, by analogy, will be of great value for its interpretation. In addition, other important and recurring issues in the Clarice Lispectors work will be addressed, such as death, childhood, desire and, concerning the narrative structure, the way the narrator often takes the point of view of character, confusing himself with her.

La littérature suggère que le sommeil paradoxal joue un rôle dans l'intégration associative de la mémoire émotionnelle. De plus, les rêves en sommeil paradoxal, en particulier leur nature bizarre et émotionnelle, semblent refléter cette fonction associative et émotionnelle du sommeil paradoxal. La conséquence des cauchemars fréquents sur ce processus est inconnue, bien que le réveil provoqué par un cauchemar semble interférer avec les fonctions du sommeil paradoxal. Le premier objectif de cette thèse était de reproduire conceptuellement des recherches antérieures démontrant que le sommeil paradoxal permet un accès hyper-associatif à la mémoire. L'utilisation d'une sieste diurne nous a permis d'évaluer les effets du sommeil paradoxal, comparativement au sommeil lent et à l’éveil, sur la performance des participants à une tâche sémantique mesurant « associational breadth » (AB). Les résultats ont montré que seuls les sujets réveillés en sommeil paradoxal ont répondu avec des associations atypiques, ce qui suggère que le sommeil paradoxal est spécifique dans sa capacité à intégrer les traces de la mémoire émotionnelle (article 1). En outre, les rapports de rêve en sommeil paradoxal étaient plus bizarres que ceux en sommeil lent, et plus intenses émotionnellement ; ces attributs semblent refléter la nature associative et émotionnelle du sommeil paradoxal (article 2). Le deuxième objectif de la thèse était de préciser si et comment le traitement de la mémoire émotionnelle en sommeil paradoxal est altéré dans le Trouble de cauchemars fréquents (NM). En utilisant le même protocole, nos résultats ont montré que les participants NM avaient des résultats plus élevés avant une sieste, ce qui correspond aux observations antérieures voulant que les personnes souffrant de cauchemars soient plus créatives. Après le sommeil paradoxal, les deux groupes, NM et CTL, ont montré des changements similaires dans leur accès associatif, avec des résultats AB-négatif plus bas et AB-positif plus grands. Une semaine plus tard, seul les participants NM a maintenu ce changement dans leur réseau sémantique (article 3). Ces résultats suggèrent qu’au fil du temps, les cauchemars peuvent interférer avec l'intégration de la mémoire émotionnelle pendant le sommeil paradoxal. En ce qui concerne l'imagerie, les participants NM avaient plus de bizarrerie et plus d’émotion positive, mais pas négative, dans leurs rêveries (article 4). Ces attributs intensifiés suggèrent à nouveau que les participants NM sont plus imaginatifs et créatifs à l’éveil. Dans l'ensemble, les résultats confirment le rôle du sommeil paradoxal dans l'intégration associative de la mémoire émotionnelle. Cependant, nos résultats concernant le Trouble de cauchemars ne sont pas entièrement en accord avec les théories suggérant que les cauchemars sont dysfonctionnels. Le groupe NM a montré plus d’associativité émotionnelle, de même que plus d'imagerie positive et bizarre à l’éveil. Nous proposons donc une nouvelle théorie de sensibilité environnementale associée au Trouble de cauchemar, suggérant qu'une sensibilité accrue à une gamme de contextes environnementaux sous-tendrait les symptômes uniques et la richesse imaginative observés chez les personnes souffrant de cauchemars fréquents. Bien que davantage de recherches doivent être faites, il est possible que ces personnes puissent bénéficier e milieux favorables, et qu’elles puissent avoir un avantage adaptatif à l'égard de l'expression créative, ce qui est particulièrement pertinent lorsque l'on considère leur pronostic et les différents types de traitements. / Existing literature suggests that REM sleep plays a role in the associative integration of emotional memory, and that attributes of dreams during REM sleep, particularly their bizarre and emotional nature, either reflect or even influence this associative and emotional function. The consequence of frequent nightmares on this process is unknown, although, the experience of a nightmare suggests an associative restriction imposed by intense negative emotion, consistent with research showing that negative affect tends to restrict cognitive flexibility in wake. This is consistent with existing theories of nightmare function, largely purporting that nightmares reflect temporary failures in emotion regulation. The first objective of the thesis was to conceptually replicate prior research portraying REM sleep as enabling increased associative access to emotional memory. The use of a daytime nap allowed us to assess the effects of REM sleep, compared to both NREM sleep and waking, on participant performance on a novel task measuring Associational Breadth (AB). Results showed that only those subjects awakened from REM sleep responded with atypical emotional word associations, suggesting that REM is specific in its capacity to broadly integrate emotional memory traces (article 1). Further, REM dream reports were more bizarre than both NREM dreams and waking daydreams, and more emotionally intense than NREM dreams; these attributes are thought to reflect the hyper-associative and emotional nature of REM sleep (article 2). The second objective was to clarify whether and how REM sleep-dependent emotional memory processing is altered in frequent nightmares sufferers. Using a similar nap protocol, our results showed that NM participants had higher baseline AB in response to emotional cue-words, contrary to predictions, but nonetheless corresponding with anecdotal reports of heightened creativity. Following REM sleep, both NM and CTL groups showed similar changes in associative access to emotional cue-words, with negative AB being restricted and positive AB being broadened; one week later, the NM group alone maintained this altered pattern of emotional semantic access (article 3). This finding suggests that, over time, nightmares may interfere with REM sleep-dependent emotional memory integration. Regarding imagery, the NM participants had heightened bizarreness, and positive, but not negative, imagery in their daydreams, but not their dreams (article 4), mirroring our AB finding that the NM group had significantly higher emotional associativity in wake, although patterns of associativity following a REM sleep nap did not differ between groups. Overall, findings support a role of REM sleep in the associative integration of emotional memory. However, our findings regarding nightmare sufferers are not entirely consistent with views that nightmares are associated with dysfunctional emotional memory processing. Although they did show a prolonged priming effect suggestive of inadequate emotion regulation, they also showed heightened semantic associativity and vivid positive imagery in wake. We therefore propose a novel Environmental Sensitivity framework for the study of nightmare sufferers, claiming that an increased sensitivity to a range of environmental contexts, not only negative contexts, underlies the unique symptoms and imaginative richness seen in frequent nightmare sufferers. Although further empirical research exploring potentially adaptive traits or sensitivity to positive contexts in nightmare sufferers is needed, the possibility that these individuals may benefit especially from supportive environments, and may have heightened creativity and semantic associativity, is particularly relevant when considering prognosis and treatment approaches.