Reference no: EM134042727

Assignment:

This mini-written applies the ideas of Sociologist Erving Goffman (1922-1982) that he presented in his 1959 book "The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life". These ideas are briefly explained on pages 135-139, 143-146. Hoffman added a new twist to micro-sociology where he recast the theatrical term dramaturgy into a Sociological term. He uses the theatre as a metaphor to explain social interaction. Social life is like a stage play where birth ushers us onto the stage of everyday life, and our socialization consists of learning to perform on that stage.

So, according to Goffman's theory, we perform roles for one another, and the point of social interaction is to maintain a successful interaction that is in line with expectations (social norms) where we satisfy our 'audience.' Everyday life involves playing our assigned roles in which we present ourselves, which we do on various 'stages.

'Front Stage: This is what the audience sees. A front stage is where you deliver your lines; this is where we are 'performing,' and here we can control what we present. This refers to the idea that we play different roles throughout our daily lives and display various kinds of behavior depending on where we are, who we are interacting with, and what time of day it is. Most of us, consciously or unconsciously, behave somewhat differently as our professional selves versus our friend or party selves or at-home and intimate selves. From Goffman's view, "front stage" behavior is what we do when we know others are watching or aware of us. In other words, it is how we behave and interact when we have an audience.

Front-stage behavior reflects internalized norms and expectations for our behavior that are partly shaped by the setting, the particular role we play within it, and our physical appearance. Maybe you are performing as a student in class, amongst friends after class, performing in front of your boss or colleagues, at church, with your family... What we say and do are our "props": setting, clothes, body language, and symbols (cues and signs). Back Stage: The audience does not see us when we are 'backstage," and here, we can drop out of our performance and prepare. These can be places where we can retreat, let our hair down, and rest from all of these performances.

Sometimes, this is what we do when no one is looking or when we think no one is looking. How we behave backstage is freed from the expectations and norms that shape our behavior on the front stage. Sometimes, what we do here could ruin our performance on the front stage. There are genuine moments of transition, in which we can be observed "putting on the mask." There is a passage in the Presentation of Self in which he describes watching (through the window) someone come to the door of your house.

The person doesn't know that you are watching her through the window, so you can watch her compose herself, adjust her hair, adjust her posture, etc.--all in preparation for the moment she transitions from backstage to front stage, from not performing to performing. Being at home instead of out in public, or at work or school, is the clearest example of the difference between front and backstage in social life. Given this, we are often more relaxed and comfortable backstage, we let our guard down, and we might be what we consider our uninhibited or "true" selves.

Question

Use dramaturgy and the ideas of Erving Goffman to analyze a situation with which you are intimately familiar, such as interaction with your family, friends, at work or in class, etc.

1) How do you 'perform' on the front stage versus the backstage in this situation? Do you present different versions of yourself? If so, how and why?

2) What 'props' do you use?