Barbara Tedlock (ed). (1981). Dreaming: Anthropological and Psychological Interpretations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. This is definitely the #1 book in dreams and anthropology and includes the collection of papers taken from the seminal conference in Santa Fe. It is now (1992) out in Paper back, published by the School of American Research Press: Santa Fe, NM. and includes a wide collection of papers from the fields leading researchers in dreams and anthropology as well as one of the best overviews of the field.
G. E. Von Gruenebaum, and Roger Caillois (Ed.s), (1966). The Dream and Human Societies. Berkeley: University of California Press.
From the 1962 French conference this collection includes such top researcher and theorists as Dorothy Eggan, Leo Oppenheim, William Dement, George Devereux, A. Irving Hallowell and Henry Corbin. It covers dreaming in other times, other cultures, other disciplines of study and should be read by all serious dreamwork students.
Carl W. O'Nell (1976). Dreams, Culture and the Individual. San Francisco: Chandler and Sharp Publishers, Inc.
A small but clear and concise overview of the role of culture on dreams and dreaming. O'Nell not only provides a survey of other people thoughts, but puts forth many of his own and suggests ways for researchers to use the dream in studying culture.
Géza Ròheim, (1979/1952) The Gates of the Dream. New York: International Universities Press, Inc.
Although this book is heavily focused on psychoanalytic arguments and jargon, it is still worth reading for the explorative depth and wide range of mythology and stories of not only the Native Australians but corresponding mythology at large. A testament to the book is the re-publication for over 50 years.
George Devereux (1951). Reality and Dream: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian. New York: International Universities Press.
This book should be read by any therapist doing work with a culture other than his or her own, but is also interesting to the layperson for story and examples of the many dreams and the cultural context of those dreams in the "Wolf" society. Though dated, I found it one of the best books in the therapy-dreams- anthropology genre.
Mary-Therese B. Dombeck (1991). Dreams and Professional Personhood: The Contexts of Dream Telling and Dream Interpretation Among American Psychotherapists. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
Turning the techniques of contemporary anthropology on the American psychotherapist, Dombeck explores the uses of dreams in psychotherapy and the reasons given for using them. Not only is the book an excellent text on the techniques of information gathering, but the analysis along lines of various Western concepts of self and personhood.
Hey - I heard about a book by Barbara Tedlock - something about the imagination and dreams.
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