November 8th to 11th, 2004

Maria Ângela de Ambrosis Pinheiro Machado
ambrosis@terra.com.br
PUC - SP - Brazil

C. S. PEIRCE'S PHENOMENOLOGICAL CATEGORIES: A LIGHT ON THE EXPERIENCE OF THE PROCESS OF ARTISTIC CREATION OF CLOWN

ABSTRACT
This paper deals with Charles Sanders Peirce's phenomenological categories as an adequate instrument to enlarge the comprehension of the experience in the process of artistic creation of the clown. The clown is characterized by his ingenuous, tender, and merry way of being present in the world. These qualities are reflected in his playful, spontaneous, and cordial manner of interacting with his environment. The language is developed during this process of experimentation. In terms of language, the clown reveals himself as a way of relating to and comprehending the world, and in doing so, he synthesizes human experiences. To what human experiences does the clown refer himself? Following this line, an attempt is made to describe and understand the experience in the light of the Charles Sanders Peirce's phenomenological categories. The identity of a clown is formed by the development of a state of presence (firstness); his relation to the world is marked by its character of permanent surprise at what is happening around him, by his reaction (secondness) to it as if he were facing it for the first time. Along with these conditions, the actor's action contributes to the final shaping of the characteristics proper to that language (thirdness). This personage is characterized by his manner of being in the world and the configuration of a distinct state of perception. And, by means of experimentation, the actor develops his potentialities for clownish acting.
This paper is an extract of a post-graduation thesis presented in 2000 at PUC SP.

KEYWORDS: Phenomenological Categories, Clown, Process of Creation.

Center for Pragmatism Studies
Philosophy Graduate Program
Departament of Philosophy
Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo - Brazil