Erving Goffman

The Presentation of Self In

Everyday Life

Erving Goffman

We are all actors within the Social World, a central

theme from Goffman work.
In a sense, we are call Fakers or engaged in a
Con Job on ourselves to effect other people.
Goffman argues that the self is simply nothing
more than Self Presentations and Role
Performances.
Social life as a theatre, with social scripts,
performances and actors & roles that perform in
the Front and Back Regions of self.
The concept of depicting social life as a Theatre,
Goffman developed the term Dramaturgy.

Dramaturgy

What is Dramaturgy

Dramaturgy is Impression Management

Social interactions is like a stage, the self promotes scenery
Moreover, that scenery is divided into two regions, the Front
and Back Regions.

Regions

By definition regions may be defined as any place that is

bounded to some degree by barriers to perception
When we talk about the Dramaturgical Approach to the
Social World the self is divided by perception.
The perception of the Front Stage and Back Stage, also
known as the Front and Back Regions of Behavior

Front Region

This Refers to a place where the performance is given.

In this regions the actor engages in, and performs his/hers
role for the audience.
While the Self is in the Front Region of behavior the
performance of the individual embodies certain standards.
Standards of the Matters of Politeness and Decorum.

Matters of Politeness
Relates to the way in which the performer treats the
audience while engaged in talk or gestural interactions.

Decorum

Refers to a set of behaviors that have to do with the way

the performer conducts himself in the visual or audio range
of the audience
Decorum has two sub-groupings referred too as the Moral
and the Instrumental

1) Moral
Moral Requirements refers to rules regarding noninterference and non-molestation of others.
Ex: Sexual Propriety, and rules regarding sacred places etc.
2) Instrumental Requirement
Refers to duties that are task oriented and secular
Ex: An employer might demand his employees to care of
property or engage in maintenance within work areas.

Back Region
Def: A back region or backstage may be defined as a place,
relative to a given performance, where the impression
fostered by the performance is knowingly contradicted.
This area is where the suppressed facts make an appearance.
Here the performer can relax; he can drop his front,
relinquish speaking his lines, and step out of character.
It is here where illusions and impressions are openly
constructed.
The back region is a place where the performer can reliably
expect that no member of the audience will intrude.
The back region or back stage is kept closed from the
audience, the entire region is meant to be kept hidden.
Ex: Perfect examples of back stage regions are kitchens within
restaurants, this area is not meant for customers to enter.

Transition

In between the Front and Back Region, there is a

phenomenon called the Zone of Transition
Goffman argues that this is one of the most interesting
times to observe impression management
At these in between moments one can detect a interesting
putting on and taking off of character.

However there is a Third

Region

Apart from Front and Back Stage there is a third

region within the ideas of Dramaturgy.
This Region is called The Outside

The Outside

The Outside region is a residual one, everything

that is not covered in the Front or Back Regions
are in The Outside.
Those individuals who are on The Outside of the
social interactions we may call outsiders.
If we shift our considerations from the front or
back region to the outside, we tend to shift our
reference from one performance to another.

Discussion Question
If

we take the Dramaturgical

approach in an attempt to define
The Self what would we conclude?
And can we relate our conclusion
with the ideas from Post Modernism?

Impression Management

Impression Management implies that there are attributes

that are required of a performer in successfully staging a
character.
The Performer must Act with Expressive Responsibility

Expressive Responsibility
Illustrates the idea that actors must consciously choose the
manner in which they behave and interact with others
It is Imperative that the audience understand that a
performer is Acting his part and that is does not
necessarily reflect the dispositions an individual may hold
privately.

However, What happens when

an actor makes a mistake and
reveals true intentions of the
performance?

The Answer to the Question: Is that Unintentional

Disruptions can occur.
Unintentional Disruption are a source of embarrassment
and dissonance for the performer, these disruptions are
seperated into three catagories, unmeant Gestures,
inopportune Intrusion and faux pas.

Unmeant Gestures
These are inadvertent acts that convey an impression that
is inappropriate at the time.
The individual held responsible for contributing an unmeant
gesture may chiefly discredit his own performance
Ex:

Inopportune Intrusion
This Occurs when an outsider accidentally enters a region in
which a performance is being given or when a member of the
audience inadvertently enters the backstage.
Ex: An example of this, is when a student walk into the
classroom while the professor is giving a lecture. We have
Inopportune Intrusion (this coming from the outsider
approach)
Ex: Another example is when a customer runs into the kitchen of
a restaurant where the chefs resides. We have another
Inopportune Intrusion (from an audience approach)

Faux Pas

Def: As Disruptions in projections of the self

These facts may involve well-kept dark secrets or negativelyvalued chacteristics that everyone can see but no one refers
too.

When such facts are introduced, embarrassment is the

usual feeling
Ex: An example is when Raphael Palmero was conducting an
interview and a journalist bought up his use of anabolic
steroids.

Gaffes & Boners

Are types of Faux Pas where a performer unthinkingly

makes an intentional contribution which destroys his own
team image

Bricks

Here, a performer jeopardizes the image of self projected

by the other team.

Discussion Question
If

we are nothing more than Fakers

within the social world, and assuming
impression management is how we
navigate through social interactions,
then one asks the question is society
real?