The discursive effects of the haiku-based SADUPA poetry technique in palliative care

Abstract

This qualitative study seeks to present the discursive effects of SADUPA, a new poetry-based technique centered on haiku, in the context of psycho-oncological treatment. The technique is used with a terminal cancer patient, Mr A. The psychological processes involved with and the poetic writings arising from the technique are discussed. In particular, the discursive variations in Mr A’s narrative of his illness are described as they occurred before and after his poetry writing. The authors suggest that writing workshops based on the brief poetic structures of the haiku can enable patients to produce a larger and more singular narrative about their end-of-life experiences.

Keywords:

• Cancer
• discourse analysis
• Software Tropes 8.4
• haiku
• palliative care
• poetry therapy
• SADUPA

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Erratum

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to share their warmest thoughts and appreciation of Mr A, who has passed away from cancer; his poetic sensibility and acuity brought us much joy. The authors would (also) like to thank the translator of this article, John Holland.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Nouns are written in singular form, but Tropes 8.4 categorizes and counts plural forms with the singular form. Verbs are written as infinitives, but all forms and conjugations are categorized and counted with the infinitive form. Likewise, all forms of French adjectives (masculine/feminine, singular/plural) are categorized together.

2 Target terms identified by Tropes appear in bold.