Freud將夢及其詮釋看成是一種潛意識（unconscious),是一種被壓抑 的慾望（disguised desire )的表面化（resurface )或外顯化的行動（acting out )。然而，此種詮釋夢的理論是否適用於非西方社會？與精神分析一 樣，人類學強調詮釋與意義的理解，將神話的論述與儀式行動都看成是一種 可比擬為精神分析的外顯化的行動（acting out),可作為理解一特定文化的 象徵性，以及生活於該社會中的自我（個人的與集體的自我）。本文以回歸 Freud並延伸Freud的精神分析學者Lacan的理論作為分析架構，關注語言 與象徵性的建構，來探討侗人的夢、神話與儀式展演等脈絡如何建構中國侗 人的自我意象。
居住在中國貴州黔東南地區的侗族人，以父方交表婚作為建構社會的理 想，形成了討妻者與給妻者必須歴經隔代方得以完成雙方的婚姻交換關係。 人類學者在處理自我與人觀概念時，強調社會性（sociality)的重要意涵， 亦即不同於精神分析所關注的內在建構機制，以事件、活動（包括行動與行 為）、語言（包括說話與論述）等外在化的機制，來形構個人的與集體的在 社會關係中的意象與主體位階。因而，自我意象的建構（個別的或集體的） 乃是坎嵌於社會生活中。我試圓從侗人的夢、神話（有關祖母神信仰的神話 傳說）、以及儀式行動（尤其是百口儀式）來分析侗人的身體、象徵性、與 自我認同的建構等之關係。我認為侗人是以日常生活的實踐（禁忌、信仰、 論述、行動）來形構與展演其自我。本文最終的目的，在處理夢、神話與儀 式等範疇如何以其各自的形式來連結幻想（或想像的）與社會事實之差距， 而象徵性則是接合三者的重要機制。

There has long been debate among cross-cultural researchers on whether Freudian dream interpretation is applicable to non-Western societies. Psychoanalysts and anthropologists alike stress the significance of dream interpretation and meaning when dealing with myth and ritual action discourses, both of which can be addressed as examples of acting out, and both of which are viewed as vividly revealing symbols of cultures, especially the subjectivity of the collective self. In this paper I use Lacanian psychoanalytical perspective (esp. language and symbolism) to examine how the Kam people of Guizhou, China interpret dreams, myths, and ritual performances for purposes of understanding their senses of self/ personhood and cultural symbols.
The Kam have traditionally practiced patrilineal cross-cousin marriage, which requires two generations of wife-takers and wife-givers to complete a marriage exchange cycle. When dealing with issues of the self and personhood in anthropology, sociality is central to any analysis of the relationship between wife-takers and wife-givers. Whereas psychoanalysts would likely emphasize the aspect of inner self when analyzing this practice, anthropologists are more likely to focus on the external mechanism for establishing self/personhood from such embedded contexts as events, social activities (actions and behaviors) and language (speech and discourse) to locate the position of a subject. In other words, ways that the self and personhood are constituted, either individually or collectively, are embedded in social life.
There are various mechanisms (e.g. myths, taboos, social exchange and ritual performance) in Kam society to inform men and women that they have to learn and to practice an appropriate form of self/personhood. For example, wei33 keh55 is an social exchange between two villages which can be understood as a reflection and an act of performance the completion of marriage transaction between two social groups. First, I describe a dream account told by a Kam woman which foretold an occurrence of death in the village. A dream is not only a social reality but also carries the cultural message to inform Kam men and women to enter marriage exchange practice. Then, I move to the Kam songs performed by Kam men and women during social exchange activities. Through the lyrics and symbols contained in the Kam songs, men and women express their loves, emotions and desires towards their desirable marriage partners. Although Kam song singing is an institutional mechanism, individual men and women are able to convey their internationality[1] by selecting suitable songs to express their personal desires and situations. Third, I discuss how taboo observations constitute the Kam self, one is aimed at pregnant women (birth) and the other towards the surviving family of a dead person. It is through the taboo practices that the Kam people complete their transformation of sociality: from birth to death or from death to social reproduction. In addition, I examine Kam myths and their practices of sa323 goddess [the goddess of a Kam female ancestor] worship to further my discussion of the significance of marriage exchange. In the myths and ritual performance to honor sa323goddess, 12 male representatives of Kam clans enter the sa323 goddess shrine to worship sa323 and then to engage in drinking and eating which I regard as an imitation of marriage exchange or social reproduction. Finally, I describe the content of ritual action performed by the Kam people whenever a disharmonious event occurs in the family or in the village. Pa55 kou323, which refers to empty words, is the ritual practiced constantly by the Kam people to prevent "being gossiped or being talked about" by other people, including either the living or the deceased. Although ritual practice such as pa55 kou323 is an external action, however, it is effective in the constitution of the Kam self by reminding people not to engage with actions of "empty words" or "being gossiped about." That is, the ritual of pa55 kou323 is not only a symbolic action but also serves as a regulatory mechanism to constitute the Kam self.
My conclusions are (a) dream accounts and cultural interpretations of dreams foretell Kam social realities; (b) myths as story-form of living reality legitimate ritual action and verify the effectiveness of social practices; and (c) rituals as fictions and imitations of social reality serve as imaginary social ideals for Kam cultural ideology. Dreams, myths and rituals all contain some characteristics of fantasy and imagination but are all able to express, articulate and verify what social realities are in their own ways. Symbols are the basic mechanisms which have the capacities to connect fantasy and imagination with social realities. In sum, dreams, myths and rituals provide the inner, subjective and the imaginary of social realities, and its significance is no less than that of the external, objective and practical aspect of social realities. For human society to move on from generation to generation, it needs both operating mechanisms: the imaginary and the practical.