Social interaction is an integral part of the human experience. “It can be defined as the process by which people act and react in relation to others”. (Macionis) The home is where social interaction begins. “Whatever patterns are introduced will be continuously modified through the exceedingly variegated and subtle interchange of subjective meanings that goes on.” (Berger and Luckmann). Erving Goffman proposed the theory of Dramaturgical analysis which presents the view of social interaction as a theatrical performance. Firstly, the dramaturgical analysis is one which offers a very unique perspective. Another description is “All the world’s a stage, /and all the men and women merely players; /they have their exits and their entrances, /and Body language is also used to communicate. Gestures, stance, posture and facial expressions can convey a message. People try to use this to their advantage. For example a girl may smile frequently to appear as a happy person. It follows then, eye contact must be important as well. According to Macionis, eye contact suggests that one is open to socializing and avoiding eye contact ‘discourages conversation’. Thirdly, body language can be deceptive. A lot of people are aware of the connotation of each aspect of body language therefore they are able to portray a false gesture to match their ‘act’. For example, if a person is pretending to have a cold, they make fake cough to elicit belief from whoever they are trying to trick. Actors make use of stage space. Therefore, space must also be considered in the dramaturgical analysis. Men tend to have more space than women because the society is a patriarchal one. Women’s femininity has long been associated with submission and ‘smallness’. Through gender stratification men have been able to possess the most dominant roles. Women, in turn are subjected to working under their “We construct performances to idealize our intentions. That is, we try to convince others (and perhaps ourselves) that what we do reflects ideal cultural standards rather than selfish motives.” (Macionis). In other words, we put our jobs or wants on a pedestal and give it much importance to convey selflessness to others. In Belize, this can be seen when ministers campaign and say ‘we want to help change Belize’ it may not be true that they want to but the job is a prestigious one with a very nice income. Although others may see through the façade that these politician present, they may not address the
Dramaturgy is a view of social life as a series of dramatic performances akin to those taken place in a theatre (Ritzer, 144). Much of Goffman’s dramaturgy is concerned with the processes by which such disturbances are prevented and dealt with (Ritzer, page 144). In the Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, Goffman developed a new approach to the sociological study of human interaction, due to a mental health court scenario, of what he referred to as “dramaturgical” because of the analogy it had of the theatre to describe how an individual engages in social interaction with others in a performance (Staton et al, page 5). This performance was a way for actors to influence their audience in a given situation. In the addition of the mental health scenario, age, gender, and race relevant. The human relationships observed in the mental health court was analyzed was theorized so Goffman could explain characteristics of human interactions.
Erving Goffman created a concept, called dramaturgical analysis, to compare social interaction to performing on stage. He believes that people show different sides of themselves depending on who they’re around and the current setting. Impression management is the “process of suppressing unfavorable traits and stressing favorable ones” (90). Many people focus on making themselves look impressionable and show their best qualities when around others. Another part of social interaction is front stage which discusses what happens in peoples sight and back stage talks about the things that happen behind closed doors. In the article, “Rethinking Goffman’s Front Stage/Back Stage,” the author made me realize that anything that is posted on social media
Erving Goffman is a sociologist who observes society in micro sociological way; he analyzed human’s interactions performed in everyday life. He examines society through face-to-face interactions and describes the way he views society as though it were a theater. This occurs because he states that there is a front and back stage to the way an individual interacts amongst other individuals just as if it were a performance in an actual theater. He believes that individuals have the power to control how to act in front of different individuals explaining that an individual wouldn’t act the same way with their best friend as they would with their boss at work. In order for society to be observed as a theater he mentions that the interaction must
Berger and Luckmann explain that everyday life presents itself to audiences as a reality interpreted through typifications that constitutes the fabric of social meaning. Goffman focuses on social interactions as dramaturgical performances that exhibit both “expressions given” and “expressions given off” within social sites made up of “front-stage” and “back-stage” environments. In both perspectives, to act solely for the sake of acting is not possible. All actions are social performances that give off impressions of “self” to other actors in society based upon past experiences and typifications.
Brecht argues that the ultimate purpose of play is to induce pleasure and to entertain, and that--because of this purpose--play needs no justification. Plays should not be simply copied from or seen through older performances, but need to develop on their own to better relate to a new audience. Through the use of alienation which aims to make the familiar unfamiliar, play and theatre can be seen under a new perspective, and the actor can feel more free to perform under a new guise.
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” William Shakespeare may have written these words in As You Like It in 1600, but Erving Goffman truly defined the phrase with his dramaturgical theory. Dramaturgical analysis is the study of social interaction in terms of theatrical performance. Unlike actors though, who use a script telling them how to behave in every scene, real life human interactions change depending upon the social situation they are in. We may have an idea of how we want to be perceived, and may have the foundation to make that happen. But we cannot be sure of every interaction we will have throughout the day, having to ebb and flow with the conversations and situations as they happen.
For this paper, I will be focusing on Erving Goffman’s concept of dramaturgy. Erving Goffman was a sociologist who studied social interaction, and is well known for his work on ‘the self.’ His book, Presentation of Self, continues to be an important and relevant book in sociology since it explains by social interaction within humans is important. In his theory, Goffman explains that people are like actors performing on a stage because of how they live their lives. Drama is used as a metaphor for how an individual presents their self to society. In his work, Goffman explains that ‘the self’ is the result of the dramatic interaction between the actor and the audience he or she performs to. There are many aspects of how an individual performs his or her ‘self’.
According to Erving Goffman’s performances theory, the way we interpret ourselves is similar to a theater in which we are all actors on a stage playing a variety of roles. The way in which we act in front of a group of observers or audience is our performance. Goffman introduces the idea that we are always performing for our observers like actors performing on a stage. The impression that we give off to an audience in a scenario is the actor’s front. You can compare an actor’s front to a script. Certain scenarios have scripts that suggest the actor how he or she should behave in every situation. The setting for the performances includes the location and scenery in which the acing takes place.
The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life is a book that was published in 1959. In it, Goffman creates a theatrical metaphor in order to portray the importance of human and social action and interaction. Goffman describes this as the dramaturgical blueprint of social life. According to Goffman, social interaction may be likened to a theatre and people in everyday life are likened to actors on a stage, each playing their distinctive roles. The audience is made up of additional individuals who observe the role-playing and react to the performances. The main concepts that make up the Dramaturgical framework are the performance, referring to all the activity of an individual. These performances deliver impressions to others and
Erving Goffman uses a dramaturgical perspective in his discussion of impression management. Goffman’s analysis of the social world primarily centres around studies of the self and relationship to one’s identity created within a society. Through dramaturgy, Goffman uses the metaphor of performance theatre to convey the nature of human social interaction, drawing from the renowned quote “All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players” from Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like It.’ Much of our exploration of Goffman’s theories lies within the premise that individuals engage in impression management, and achieve a successful or unsuccessful performance. Impression management refers to the ways in which individuals attempt to control the impression that others have of them stemming from a basic human desire to be viewed by others in a favourable light. Goffman argues that our impressions are managed through a dramaturgical process whereby social life is played out like actors performing on a stage and our actions are dictated by the roles that we are playing in particular situations. In a social situation, the stage is where the encounter takes place, the actors are the people involved in the interaction, and the script is the set of social norms in which the actors must abide by. Just as plays have a front stage and back stage, this also applies in day-to-day interactions. Goffman’s theory of the front and back stage builds on Mead’s argument of the phases of the self. The front stage consists of all the public and social encounters with other people. It is similar to the ‘me’ which Mead talks about, as it involves public encounters as well as how others perceive you. Meanwhile the back stage, like the ‘I’, is the time spent with oneself reflecting on the interactions. Therefore, according to Goffman’s dramaturgical
Its general definition encompasses almost the whole of theatrical activity, but in the context of what dramaturgs do, dramaturgy is a comprehensive exploration of the context in which the play resides. The dramaturg is the resident expert on the physical, social, political, and economic milieus in which the action takes place, the psychological underpinnings of the characters, the various metaphorical expressions in the play of thematic concerns; as well as on the technical consideration of the play as a piece of writing: structure, rhythm, flow, even individual word choices. There are different sort of dramaturgs, with varying responsibilities, though few dramaturgs are of a pure type; most overlap categories. The institutional dramaturgs help find and select plays to be produced, while the education dramaturg prepares activities and materials for school group and leads audience discussions.”(McCabe 2008：64）
“All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. . .” This famous quote of the well-known English poet, playwright and actor William Shakespeare is the essence of Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical perspective of social interaction. Per Goffman, in our everyday lives we create a persona in front of others mainly known as the front region where we are subconsciously indulging in impression management to create a presentation of our self with the help of sign vehicles which are props and aids that help us strengthen the intended image. In doing so we try our best to remain in face, or adhere to the scripts we have devised to create the intended persona.
In the first chapter Esslin deems all common definitions of drama as lacking and insufficient since they overlook dramatic genres that are not staged. He thus draws heavily on those who regard live theatre as the only true form of drama. And yet Esslin does not state his own definition. He instead declares that drama should not have ...
Body language in a session is important because it allows the skilled helper to understand what the client is feeling by observing their body movements; this can help the communication in the session. This could help the skilled helper as they could note when the client is feeling discomfort which can lead to the session progressing because the skilled helper would ask them why they are feeling this way. It is important that the skilled helper had good eye contact in the session because it shows the client that the skilled helper is respecting what they are saying and it shows that they value what the client is saying. It is important that the skilled helper has good body language and good eye contact in the session so that the client knows that the skilled helper is there to help them and cares about what their problem is. The client should feel as though the skilled helper cares and by having good body language and good eye contact the client would know this because the skilled helper would be paying attention and listening to what they are saying. In the same way, it is important that the client has good body language and is not slouching so that the skilled helper knows that they want help. Good eye contact can show the skilled helper that the client is respecting what they have to say and is listening to what the counsellor is asking so that they can answer the question
Erving Goffman (1959) wrote that “social interaction may be likened to a theatre, and people in everyday life to actors on stage, each playing a variety of roles”. When you think of the way we behave and interact with each other, there really is not a more appropriate metaphor than comparing our behavior to that of actors portraying roles on stage. For example, there are a multitude of roles and statuses that could be used to describe me; among them being Mexican American, student, wife, daughter, sister, female, and middle child. However, while all these are true at any given time throughout the day, the role I portray changes with the situation and it should since different settings or situations have different audiences thus requiring a distinct performance to accommodate the current situation. An example of this phenomenon is described by the differentiation between front stage performance and back stage performance. To use myself as an example again let us consider my front stage performance as a