Dreaming about the Queen

Apparently some enormous percentage of Britons have dreamed about the Queen. I suspect the number is similarly high in Commonwealth countries; and proportionately lower in the US and Europe.

Last night it was my turn. I dreamt of a kind of tournament/sports carnival. OK, that's easy: I'm teaching A Knight's Tale next week; and was also reading about the Eglintoun Tournament of 1843 in Michael Alexander's Medievalism last week. But then I was taken into a seminar room at the back of the grounds, and there were the Queen and Prince Philip. I stumbled over the appropriate forms of address and Her Majesty smiled patiently and said she was looking forward to reading the chapter of my book where I wrote about her opinions of the Order of the Garter. I started to mumble something about the way I thought that insiders were able to make fun of or mock the Order, and she said that sounded interesting. And then I woke up.

Fantastic! A few weeks ago, my mother also showed me the David Campbell poem, "Australian Dream" which has the Queen, Duke and Queen Mother turning up to stay the night.

In fact I have been thinking about the Queen as an example of Bourdieu's "institution-made" subject. She's the pre-eminent case of someone who is completely formed by the institution she serves.

But then, if we are dreaming our books, what does that say about our unconscious?