Ervin Goffman
Module 1
• Some consider as “the most
influential American sociologist
of the twentieth century”
• (Fine and Manning 2003)
• Known for his work on symbolic
interactionism (micro-sociology)
Goffman
What determines how you interact
with another person?
• The importance of information
• “seek to inquire information about him”
• “bring to play information about him already possessed”
• The “front”
• How one presents oneself to others
• Or asks others to believe a certain impression (set of information)
Also, how do you make friends?
• Performance
• Any activity that serves to influence other participants
• First impressions matter; everything you do (or don’t) matters
Traditional Parts of the Front
The Front
• Setting: the space, scenic parts
• Different parts combine to create a whole picture. The sum is greater
than each of the individual parts.
• How does Intentionality come into play into all of this?
• Fronts tend to be selected; not created
• Physical
• How about online?
• Personal Front / Appearance: materials that reflect social status
• Hair color and style, skin color
• Can be external (garments, accessories)
• Manner: stimuli that warn of incoming role
• Physical gestures
• Language
• What are the implications of this?
What if I told you none of it was
accidental?
And the first night that you saw me
Nothing was gonna stop me
I laid the groundwork, and then
Just like clockwork
The dominoes cascaded in a line
What if I told you I'm a mastermind?
Serpa and Ferreira
• Social order and harmony
• The idea that hidden rules shape interactions
• Akin to social norms / facts (Durkheim)
• Shaped by social institutions
• Imperfect, can be broken
• Where do performances take place?
• Traditionally, in-person / face2face
• The advent of the internet complicates things
• Is there a backstage?
The Backstage
• “You do not want to know how the sausage is made” (Bute 2016)
• “a back area or backstage may be defined as a place, connected with
a given performance where the impressions aimed at by this
performance are consciously contradicted in a natural manner”
• “the actor can relax, put aside his/her disguise, interrupt the
performance and abandon the character that he/she plays in the
respective frame”
• I.e. where fronts are not necessary; where they are reconfigured
• Restricted and hidden