Erving Goffman

Erving Goffman
(DRAMATURGY)
BIOGRAPHY
• Born on June 11, 1922 in Manville, Alberta
Canada
• was a major Canadian-American sociologist
who played a significant role in the
development of modern American sociology.
• He is widely known because of his
development of symbolic interaction theory
and for developing the dramaturgical
perspective.
IN 1939 HE HE INTERRUPTED
FROM 1937
GOFFMAN ENROLLED AT THE HIS STUDIES AND
ATTENDED ST. UNIVERSITY OF MOVED TO
JOHN’S TECHNICAL MANITOBA, OTTAWA TO WORK
HIGHSCHOOL IN MAJORING IN IN THE FILM
WINNIEPEG.
CHEMISTRY. INDUSTRY.
1945 – BA IN
EARLY 1940’s – FIRST SOCIOLOGY AND
1949 – MA
ENCOUNTOURS ANTHROPOLOGY
1951 – PhD IN
WITH SOCIOLOGY GRADUATED AT
SOCIOLOGY
(DENNIS WRONG). UNIVERSITY OF
TORONTO
1952 MARRIED WITH ANGELICA CHOATE, AND HAD 2 KIDS ALICE AND TOM.
19 November 1982 (aged 60)(Stomach cancer) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Goffman Believes:
Humans:
• Are ACTIVE and KNOWLEDGEABLE
• Device their own conduct.
• GUIDE and CONTROL how other
see them.
• Different in social settings than
alone.
• Are SOCIAL CON ARTISTS.
DRAMATURGY
• The THEATRICAL REPRESENTATION of LIFE.
• Consist of the FRONT STAGE and the
BACKSTAGE.
• Uses IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT as a tool.
IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT
SOCIAL APPEARA MANNER OF

INTERACTING
SETTING NCE
The Presentation of Self in Everyday
Life
LIFE IS A DRAMATIC PERFORMANCE
WE “PERFORM” FOR OTHERS
WE PRESENT KIND OF ‘ACT’ TO THEM
WE PERFORM DIFFERENTLY IN
DIFFERENT SITUATION
“LIFE ITSELF IS A DRAMATICALLY ENACTED THING.”

WE PRESENT ‘OURSELVES’ IN SIX DIFFERENT
WAYS
P
P E
E R
R S S
P O
F T T
E R N
O A E
R O A
R G A
S L L
M I M
O E
A N S
N S
N G
A T
C
E Y
L
E
PERSONA
• “The aspect of someone’s character that is presented to or perceived by
others” or “a role or character adopted by an author or an actor” The
different personality ‘masks’ we wear in different situations, for different
people.
Formal: Job interviews, meetings These could include Informal: Being

surrounded by friends, Family: Parent, child, sibling, long distant
relative, etc.
Ex: For instance, the way we behave with our family on a picnic is
different to how we would behave with prisoners if we worked as a
Prison Warden.
PERFORMANCE
• This refers to how we wear our persona or
personality mask.
For example: We could be deadly serious or likewise
laugh with joy. Performance describes the extent to
which the core self is engaged in the act of self
presentation.
We might be ‘sincere’ in how we behave. We are honest

in what we say and do. or We might be ‘cynical’ – and not
really believe in our performance.
Staging/ Dramaturgy
• Goffman insinuated that people could use
their surroundings when ‘staging’ our
performance of our personae.
What do we need for our ‘performance’?

1. A physical locations.
2. 2. Props/objects.
3. 3. Costume/uniform.
These form the context for our performance.

Teams
• The group of people we associated in a social
interaction or likewise support in an event/
circumstance
• Goffman’s suggested that our teams’ are the
company we enlist or support; our friends and
fellow actors
Role
• The function assumed or part played by a person or thing in a
particular situation’.
• Our social role plays a massive part of the persona we give off and
the way we perform. It allows us to fit into the social norms of
society, through our primary and secondary socialisation.
• Roles could include; parent, child, sibling, friend, enemy, teacher,

etc.
• He argued that we moved from role to role depending on who we

were speaking to, especially given the fact we had to respect the
social hierarchy. This refers to the individual ‘jobs’ or responsibilities
we have in a ‘team’.
Personal style
takes into account our own individual styles. Rather than
conforming to the social norms of a situation or group.
“If we accept everything as it is, we would not leave room for

individuality”
Goffman argues, personal style acts as a glue that ties and

supports together all the rest of the elements Without
personal style, our performance loses the chance will have no
fluidity and no confidence - we would become ‘bad actors’
This is what makes you different to others

FRONT STAGE
BACKSTAGE

Erving Goffman

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Erving Goffman

SOCIAL APPEARA MANNER OF

WE “PERFORM” FOR OTHERS

WE PRESENT KIND OF ‘ACT’ TO THEM

“LIFE ITSELF IS A DRAMATICALLY ENACTED THING.”

Formal: Job interviews, meetings These could include Informal: Being

We might be ‘sincere’ in how we behave. We are honest

What do we need for our ‘performance’?

These form the context for our performance.

• Roles could include; parent, child, sibling, friend, enemy, teacher,

• He argued that we moved from role to role depending on who we

“If we accept everything as it is, we would not leave room for

Goffman argues, personal style acts as a glue that ties and

This is what makes you different to others

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