In the literature about dreams, it has often been noted that the dreamer can simultaneously be represented by more than one character in certain dream scenes; at the same time, linguistic analysis shows that we frequently represent ourselves in language as being split into two or more entities, and linguists have pointed to a number of recurrent patterns. As there seems to be a certain resemblance between both ideas, it is reasonable to ask whether they may be related in some way; that is, whether language and dreams, in this regard, may exhibit parallels or common patterns. This article looks at certain phenomena that pertain to the split representation of the Self in language and examines whether these phenomena can be thought to apply likewise to dreams. The aim is to sketch out, to the extent possible, a model of how self-representation is structured in dreams. The topic is introduced by means of practical examples and a basic interpretive model is proposed.
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