ERVINGGOFFMAN

ThePresentationofSelfinEverydayLife
Asummaryofkeyconceptsandideas
Goffmandrawstheparallelbetweenanindividual'severydayactivitiesanda
performancepresentedtoanaudience.Goffmanusestheterm"performance"to
refertoactivitiesofanindividualbeforeasetofobservers.Thus,everyone
everywhereisplayinga"role".Eventually,theconceptionofrolebecomessecond
natureandisinfusedintoanindividual'spersonality.Goffmanreferstoseveral
elementsofroleplaying,oraperformance:

front
dramaticrealisation
idealisation
misrepresentation
realityandcontrivance.

Front
Theauthordefines"front"asthepartthat"regularlyfunctionsinafixedfashion
todefinethesituationforthosewhoobservetheperformance."Animportantpart
offrontisthe"setting",whichisthescenethatprovidesthebackgroundofa
performance.Forexample,alivingroommaybethesettingofsomekindof
performance.
Similarly,attheindividuallevel,personalfrontsprovidethebackdropofa
performance.Personalfrontsmayincludeage,ethnicity,gender,sizeandlooks,
posture,facialexpressionsandmore.Noticethatsomemayberelativelyfixed
whilesomeothersaretransitory.Forinstance,ethnicityisfixedwhilefacial
expressionschangeovertime.
Dramaticrealisation
Goffmanalsosuggeststhatanindividual"infuseshisactivitywithsignswhich
highlightandportrayconfirmatoryfactsthatmightotherwiseremainobscure".In
otherwords,anindividualperformeroftentriestomakethe"invisible"visiblein
someway.Foranindividualtodramatisehisorherrole,heorshemustinvesta
significantamountofenergy.Thus,asideeffectofdramaticrealisationbecomes
thatindividualsoftenfindthemselveswiththedilemmaofexpressionvs.action.

Thosewhohavethetimeandtalenttoperformataskwellmaynothavethetime
ortalenttomakeitapparentthattheyareperformingwell.
Idealisation
Aperformanceoftenpresentsanidealisedviewofthesituation.Morespecifically,
weoftentrytoseemalittlebetterthanweare.Anindividual'sperformancetends
toexemplifysocialnorm.Forexample,awomanmaydressincertainwaysin
conformityto"official",common,values.However,there'sagapbetweenour
"human"self&"socialised"self.Wedonotmerelyliveour"human"selfbutact
outour"socialised"self,byplayingachosencharacter,defendingandidealising
ourpassions.
Misrepresentation
Theaudiencetendstothinkofaperformanceasgenuineorfalse.However,
Goffmanpointsoutthatwecanstudyfalseperformancestolearnabouthonest
performances.
Reality&Contrivance
Twocommonsensemodelsarehonestandfalseperformances.Goffmanpoints
outthatperformersmaybesincerelyconvincedoftheirsincerity,butthe
performancesmaystillbedeliberate,"managed".Thus,honest,sincere
performancesmaynotbeconnectedto"reality"aswemightassume.
Goffmanusestheexampleofthedoctorwhoisforcedtogiveaplacebotoa
patient,fullyawareofitsimpotence,asaresultofthedesireofthepatientfor
moreextensivetreatment(18).Inthisway,theindividualdevelopsidentityor
personaasafunctionofinteractionwithothers,throughanexchangeof
informationthatallowsformorespecificdefinitionsofidentityandbehaviour.
Goffmanexploresnatureofgroupdynamicsthroughadiscussionof"teams"and
therelationshipbetweenperformanceandaudience.Heusestheconceptofthe
teamtoillustratetheworkofagroupofindividualswho"cooperate"in
performance,attemptingtoachievegoalssanctionedbythegroup(79).Co
operationmaymanifestitselfasunanimityindemeanourandbehaviourorinthe
assumptionofdifferingrolesforeachindividual,determinedbythedesiredintent
inperformance.Goffmanreferstothe"shill,"amemberoftheteamwho
"providesavisiblemodelfortheaudienceofthekindofresponsetheperformers
areseeking,"promotingpsychologicalexcitementfortherealisationofa
(generallymonetary)goal,asanexampleofa"discrepantrole"intheteam(146).

Ineachcircumstance,theindividualassumesafrontthatisperceivedtoenhance
thegroup'sperformance.
GBFebruary22,2015