Le malentendu comme structure de la communication

Dans les modèles télégraphiques, on considère que la communication fonctionne si les messages de départ et d’arrivée sont identiques. Sinon, cela signifie que le récepteur a mal compris ou que l’émetteur s’est mal fait comprendre. Dans ce cadre, la pathologie de la communication est l’incompréhension. Ce que nous proposons ici, à partir de l’analyse de situations de communication très particulières (des rencontres enchantées avec des dauphins sauvages), c’est que, à l’inverse, la structure fondamentale de la communication est le malentendu. Or, c’est le refus de reconnaître ce fait (dû notamment au désir vain et désastreux de contrôler le partenaire) qui engendre des pathologies. Admettre au contraire qu’émetteur et récepteur disposent nécessairement de versions différentes de l’interaction et qu’il n’y a pas de version plus objective qu’une autre, c’est replacer l’altérité au cœur d’une communication qui est réussie parce qu’on accepte de mal se comprendre.In telegraphic models of communication, communication is reputed to work if the message sent and the message received are the same. If they are not it is supposed that either the sender wasn’t clear, or the receiver failed to understand. In this model, misunderstanding is pathological communication. In this paper we rely on the analysis of human-animal communication (enchanting encounters with free dolphins) to show that, on the contrary, misunderstanding is the basic pattern of communication. Pathological interactions arise when people refuse to acknowledge this fact and try to control their partner. The misunderstanding model of communication that we present here takes for granted that in the communication process the sender and the receiver necessarily have different versions of what is being communicated and that none of them is truer than another. In this model otherness is central and communication succeeds because the partners agree not to (perfectly) understand each other

Dauphins enchantés. Une analyse des rencontres humains/dauphins

peer reviewedIn occidental countries, the figure of the dolphin is permeated with love. Not only do people love dolphins, but the dolphins' anthropophilia belongs to their natural history as well : they rescue men at sea, play in the bow waves of boats, and sometime develop enduring friendships with humans. People who have encountered dolphins in the open sea regularly speak about "falling in love" or feeling "pure love" from the dolphin ; others report telepathy, trance or mystic revelations. The emotions that people might experiment in an encounter with a dolphin are very powerful and embedded in numerous wondrous stories about dolphins. The paper begins with first hand accounts of persons who have encountered dolphins. A description of the practices of the encounter follows. Then I discuss some distinctive features of the human/dolphin communication (ethological signals, interactional patterns, the awareness of an alien consciousness) which might be associated with the emotions involved. The last part of the paper addresses the main representations of the dolphin in occidental countries (a messenger, a saviour, a healer). Those representations play a crucial role when the emotions or experiences are to be given a meaning

Un point de vue Batesonien sur les expériences d'enchantement dans le rapport au vivant

editorial reviewe

Animal assisted activities and the creation of a transitional space between patient and therapist

L’argument principal qui sera développé est celui-ci : introduire des animaux dans un cadre clinique permet de créer des dispositifs de bienveillance au sein desquels du nouveau peut advenir dans une relative sécurité, et notamment une reconfiguration de l’identité. La notion d’espace potentiel (ou espace intermédiaire) de Donald Winnicott, augmentée de la réflexion qu’a menée le sociologue Emmanuel Belin sur la bienveillance dispositive, peut nous aider à penser la manière dont ceci survient, ainsi que les conditions de possibilité de ces changement

Agir sur soi pour agir sur autrui: Le travail affectif dans les relations entre dauphins et soigneurs

Marinelands are entertainment companies whose main stars are marine mammals. Based on fieldwork conducted in a European aquatic park, this paper analyses how such a company deals with the many affects and emotions that intersect there: the dolphins’, the public’s, the trainers’ and the anti-captivity activists’. The first part of the paper shows that parks are engaged in a deliberate policy of affects that is used to legitimate captivity, in an international context that is globally unfavourable to it. The second part deals with trainers’ interactions with dolphins and document the affective work that trainers operate on themselves and on their animals in order to «produce» a dolphin that is eager to work and which they can trust.Marinelands are entertainment companies whose main stars are marine mammals. Based on fieldwork conducted in a European aquatic park, this paper analyses how such a company deals with the many affects and emotions that intersect there: the dolphins’, the public’s, the trainers’ and the anti-captivity activists’. The first part of the paper shows that parks are engaged in a deliberate policy of affects that is used to legitimate captivity, in an international context that is globally unfavourable to it. The second part deals with trainers’ interactions with dolphins and document the affective work that trainers operate on themselves and on their animals in order to «produce» a dolphin that is eager to work and which they can trust.Marinelands are entertainment companies whose main stars are marine mammals. Based on fieldwork conducted in a European aquatic park, this paper analyses how such a company deals with the many affects and emotions that intersect there: the dolphins’, the public’s, the trainers’ and the anti-captivity activists’. The first part of the paper shows that parks are engaged in a deliberate policy of affects that is used to legitimate captivity, in an international context that is globally unfavourable to it. The second part deals with trainers’ interactions with dolphins and document the affective work that trainers operate on themselves and on their animals in order to «produce» a dolphin that is eager to work and which they can trust

Rencontres animales et sentiment du soi

editorial reviewedThe paper presents the result of an ethnographic preliminary enquiry about the experience of meeting an animal. Six adult females have answered a micro-phenomenology interview about “an encounter with an animal that meant to them”. None of them were animal communicators, nor did they have training in it. Three accounts were about dogs and three were about horses. Only the horse encounter experiences met the criteria of being about a “suspended” or “enchanted” moment, and will be the subject of this presentation. It should be emphasized that these “suspended” moments happened in an everyday situation (i.e. in a barn), while the human beings were not riding the horse. These moments “happened from nowhere”, were surprising, and left long-lasting and vivid memories. They were lived as intense body communication with the horse and a renewed sense of the self. The paper will provide descriptions of the lived experiences and discuss the concept of “pathic communication” as a possible useful concept for their understanding

Human-animal communication: current perspectives

editorial reviewedJe souhaite dans ce texte apporter des arguments pour une conception élargie et inclusive de la communication , qui puisse inclure l’étude de la communication humains-animaux en tant que telle, et même au-delà. Tel est l’enjeu théorique de ce texte. Mais j’y vois également un enjeu éthique, qui est de contribuer au développement d’outils pour la description de situations de communication et d’interaction humains-animaux potentiellement pathogènes (c’est-à-dire susceptibles de générer des comportements problématiques et/ou de la souffrance) comme l’École de Palo-Alto a pu le faire avec la communication humaine. Un autre enjeu, plus large encore, est d’apporter une contribution à la question posée par E. Hache dans « Ce à qui nous tenons » : comment entendre la demande des animaux et de la nature à être bien traités ? Ces enjeux théoriques et éthiques sont évidemment étroitement connectés. L’hypothèse faite ici est que faire face à ces enjeux implique d’abandonner le modèle de la communication comme transmission de messages afin de s’ouvrir aux phénomènes communicatifs qui ne se laissent pas décrire de cette manière.In this paper, I want to put forward arguments in favour of a broader and more inclusive conception of communication, which could include the study of human-animal communication as such, and even beyond. This is the theoretical challenge of this paper. But I also see it as an ethical issue, which is to contribute to the development of tools for describing potentially pathogenic situations of human-animal communication and interaction (i.e. likely to generate problematic behaviour and/or suffering), as the Palo-Alto School was able to do with human communication. Another, even broader, challenge is to make a contribution to the question posed by E. Hache in 'What we care about': how can we listen to the demands of animals and nature to be treated well? These theoretical and ethical issues are obviously closely connected. The hypothesis put forward here is that dealing with these issues involves abandoning the model of communication as the transmission of messages in order to open up to communicative phenomena that cannot be described in this way

"Être avec" par corps : expérience du commun sur un plateau de théâtre ?

Le texte interroge la manière dont un collectif d'acteurs (professionnels et amateurs) parvient à s'expérimenter sous le registre du commun. A partir d'observation participante et d'entretiens approfondis, menés en partie selon la technique des entretiens d'explicitation, les auteurs interrogent des exercices de théâtre et cherchent à identifier les appuis perceptifs et sensoriels sur lesquels se fonde l'expérience du commun pour les participants. Ils montrent notamment que l'expérience de "l'être avec" prend place dans un espace spécifique rendu propice à l'émergence de la confiance. Ils mettent également en évidence le rôle de la coordination motrice, de l'attention au corps, de l'absorption, du lâcher prise et de la réorganisation perceptive, induits par les exercices examinés, dans la mise en place de l'expérience de "l'être avec" par corps.Le texte interroge la manière dont un collectif d'acteurs (professionnels et amateurs) parvient à s'expérimenter sous le registre du commun. A partir d'observation participante et d'entretiens approfondis, menés en partie selon la technique des entretiens d'explicitation, les auteurs interrogent des exercices de théâtre et cherchent à identifier les appuis perceptifs et sensoriels sur lesquels se fonde l'expérience du commun pour les participants. Ils montrent notamment que l'expérience de "l'être avec" prend place dans un espace spécifique rendu propice à l'émergence de la confiance. Ils mettent également en évidence le rôle de la coordination motrice, de l'attention au corps, de l'absorption, du lâcher prise et de la réorganisation perceptive, induits par les exercices examinés, dans la mise en place de l'expérience de "l'être avec" par corps

The State of Animal- Assisted Interventions in France: Is the IAHAIO Model Relevant?

Animal- assisted interventions (AAI) became more generalized in health care settings and their development in Europe is increasing. In France, the practice has grown in the absence of official recognition and regulation. In this context, we aim to identify the main characteristics of the French practice of AAI that can influence the establishment of a local regulation. Second, we aim to question the relevance of the model proposed by the International Association of Human- Animal Interaction Organizations (IAHAIO) distinguishing animal- assisted therapies (AAT) and (AAA) animal- assisted activities from the French practice of AAI. We interviewed 111 French handlers in AAI that work with at least one dog through an online questionnaire about their professional backgrounds and the main features of their practices of AAI (characteristics, beneficiaries, and animals). Our results indicated that AAI are at an important moment of expansion and are currently under autonomous regulation. Practices and handlers’ backgrounds are heterogeneous, as well as training centers in AAI, which reflect the fragmentation of the field. This snapshot of the French practice of AAI underlined that regulations should focus first on a mandatory training, a common standard for each training center, and specific guidelines for each pathology and animal species involved. In addition, the influence of handlers’ backgrounds on the type of AAI they practice must be taken into account in regulations. As animals are central in AAI, regulations should focus on their welfare and the certification of dogs to ensure both their safety and the safety of beneficiaries during sessions. Finally, the initial training in the medico- social field seems to influence the practices. Therefore, the common model distinguishing AAT and AAA could be a basis to regulate AAI in France, as in Italy. Indeed, our results underlined that a first categorization between AAI as a professional specialization or an independent profession could be useful. Still, whatever the type of practices, animal and beneficiary welfare should be at the center of regulations in a One Health perspective. As a result, the French government needs to support AAI development such as in other European countries (Sweden, Austria, and Italy) and should collaborate with handlers, organizations, health care facilities, animal professions, and scientists