From “how” to “why” : potty-training book’s evolution in France
Résumé
After being a matter of drill and body discipline the toilet training became more and more focused on ”soft methods” like encouragement and stimulation. The child is called nowadays to become aware of the functioning of his body and social expectations, and not to be simply ”trained” to use the pot. These changes seem to be part of a more global transformation of the norms and standards of childcare that are the result of historical changes in the status of the child. The emergence and following propagation of potty-training books whose purpose is to raise children's interest in using potty (or toilet) give evidence of this evolution. This communication proposal aims to explore this transformation through text and discourse analysis. The empirical data come from an ongoing sociological study of toilet education in different countries (France, Norway, Russia) that seeks to gain a better understanding of socialisation processes and cultural contexts of hygienic and body maintenance norms.