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Clown society is a term used in anthropology and sociology for an organization of comedic entertainers who have a formalized role in a culture or society.
Description and Function
Sometimes clown societies have a sacred role, to represent a trickster character in religious ceremonies. Other times the purpose served by members of a clown society is only to parody excessive seriousness, or to deflate pompousity.
In the sense of how clowns serve their culture:
- A clown shows what is wrong with the way things are.
- A clown shows how do do ordinary things the wrong way.
Members of a clown society always dress in some kind of a special, clown costume, which is usually an absurdly extreme form of normal dress. While in that costume, they have special permission from their society to parody absurd or defective aspects of their own culture. They are always required to be funny. Other persons living within the same culture always instantly recognize a clown when they see one, but seldom consciously understand what their own clowns do for their own society. The typical explanation is "He's just a funny man."
Clown societies usually train new members to become clowns. The training normally takes place by an apprentice system, although there may be some rote schooling as well. Sometimes the training is improvisational comedy, but usually a clown society trains members in well known forms of costume, pantomime, song, dance, and common sight gags. Occasionally these include a scripted performance, or skit, which is part of a standard repertoire that "never gets old," and is expected by members of the culture that the clown society is part of.
Difference from School for Comedians
A clown society is different from, but closely related to a school for comedians. Comedians serve many of the same social functions of parody and social criticizm, and also embody the role of the trickster, but a comedian usually only uses slightly exaggerated mannerisms to show that he/she is joking. Comedians who are not also clowns do not wear a blatantly outrageous or formalized costume.
Also very different from clowns, comedians frequently must assume personal responsibility for their social criticism, rather than having the free pass that a clown enjoys when in costume.
Examples
- Circus clowns function as a clown society, in occidental culture.
- The Shriners are a clown society within the Masons, and in American society generally.
- Sacred clowns are called heyoka in Lakota Sioux Native American culture.
- Circus clowns were the only persons allowed to criticize the government of the former Soviet Union.
See also
"Clown society"