1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«Through ethnographic and autoethnographic research, this thesis will explore the traditional comedic role and the Indigenous sacred role of the clown to find connections to how the role of the clown manifests in communities today.» (p. iii)

Questions/Hypothèses :
L’étude est basée sur deux questionnements généraux: «What are the qualities in the archetypal role of the clown that serve as a catalyst for individual or societal transformation, and how do they exist in present cultures? What common elements of the role are present in forms ranging from the Indigenous Tricksters to the contemporary clowns of Bataclown in France?» (p. 6)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«I have collected stories of clowns who work in the fields of healthcare and humanitarian work, and I tell stories of my own experience of working in community-engaged situations. The questions of my interviews with other clowns were open-ended in order to encourage them to tell stories about their experiences in the role of the clown.» (p. 7)

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse de contenu

3. Résumé

Tout au long du quatrième chapitre, l’auteure aborde la question du rôle du clown en contexte hospitalier, surtout dans son rapport avec les patients et leurs familles: «It is through humour and play that the clowns engage sick children, their families, and staff, inviting them to laughter.» (p. 48) «The patients and their families, like the clown, often occupy a liminal position. They are caught between sickness and health, death and life. “The clown helps the patient and family provide meaning to the illness experience and resolve personal and social problems that result from it. This in turn increases patient satisfaction, compliance and perhaps outcome” (Van Blerkom 470–471). […] The clown is with families in the hospital, waiting on a threshold of change that will bring their child back to health or force them to let go. Death parallels failure in the medical system, and failure is the territory of the clown. Because the clown is always failing – to put on his hat or to get out of the bathroom - patients, parents and staff are encouraged to accept and laugh about failure. » (p. 59) «Through laughter, patients and families can grow more comfortable with intrusive medical procedures.» (p. 61)