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April 2023

Paul Bouissac


Paul Bouissac is Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto (Victoria College).

Born and educated in France, he studied classics, philosophy, anthropology, and semiotics in Paris. Under the mentorship of Claude Levi-Strauss, he conducted life-long ethnographic research on the traditional circus, and contributed to the development of semiotics and linguistics through publications and edited works, both in English and in French. 

He is currently involved in the development of a handbook of pronominal systems. His publishers include Mouton de Gruyter, Indiana University Press, Oxford University Press, John Benjamins, and Bloomsbury Academic among others. His creative writings to date were published by Minuit and L’Interligne.
 
 

Explore Paul Bouissac's Books

The Semiotics of Performances

An Introduction To The Analysis, Interpretation, And Theory Of The Performing Arts. 

London: Bloomsbury, 2025.

The primary purpose of this book is to disentangle the many streams of information that converge on us during a live performance to create a meaningful experience. The challenge of understanding how this is achieved requires that we reflect on this experience not to dampen its intensity but rather to enhance our enjoyment by making it more mindful. This reflection will also enable those who strive to become performers to be more aware of the means that will allow them to reach their goal. Finally, this book will offer critics who judge the merits of live performances a panoply of analytical tools that will help them articulate their opinions beyond mere subjective impressions.

The End of the Circus

Evolutionary Semiotics and Cultural Resilience. 

London: Bloomsbury, 2021.

This book analyses two features of the traditional circus that have come under increasing attack since the mid-20th century: the use of wild animals in performance and the act of clowning. Positioning this socio-cultural change within the broader perspective of evolutionary semiotics, renowned circus expert Paul Bouissac examines the decline of the traditional circus and its transformation into a purely acrobatic spectacle.

 

The Meaning of the Circus

The Communicative Experience of Cult, Art, and Awe

This book documents and discusses the meaning(s) of the creative process at play in the crafting and staging of circus acts. It highlights the experience of circus artists as their skills develop and mature into public performances that create aesthetic and emotional values in the modern economy of live spectacles. It scrutinizes the meaning that circus acts produce for the spectators and for the artists themselves who live this process from the inside. This is a book for those studying semiotics and wanting to see it applied to a real life milieu in accessible and passionate prose.

 

The Semiotics of Clowns and Clowning

Rituals of Transgression and Theory of Laughter.

London: Bloomsbury, 2015.

During the last 300 years circus clowns have emerged as powerful cultural icons. This is the first semiotic analysis of the range of make-up and costumes through which the clowns’ performing identities have been established and go on developing. It also examines what Bouissac terms ‘micronarratives’ – narrative meanings that clowns generate through their acts, dialogues and gestures.

 
 

Circus as Multimodal Discourse

Performance, Meaning, and Ritual

London: Bloomsbury, 2012

The book’s fifteen chapters cover the range of circus specialties (magic, domestic and wild animal training, acrobatics, and clowning) and provide examples to show how cultural meaning is produced, extended and amplified by circus performances. Bouissac is one of the world’s leading authorities on circus ethnography and semiotics and this work is grounded on research conducted over a 50 year span in Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas.