The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life was the first book to treat face-to-face interaction as a subject of sociological study. Goffman treats it as a kind of report in which he frames out the theatrical performance that applies to these interactions.[5] He believes that when an individual comes in contact with other people, that individual will attempt to control or guide the impression that others might make of him by changing or fixing his or her setting, appearance, and manner. At the same time, the person the individual is interacting with is trying to form and obtain information about the individual.[6]
Believing that all participants in social interactions are engaged in practices to avoid being embarrassed or embarrassing others, Goffman developed his dramaturgical analysis, wherein he observes a connection between the kinds of acts that people put on in their daily life and theatrical performances.
In social interaction, as in theatrical performance, there is a front region where the performers (individuals) are on stage in front of the audiences. This is where the positive aspect of the idea of self and desired impressions are highlighted. There is also a back region, where individuals can prepare for or set aside their role.[7] The "front" or performance that an actor plays out includes "manner," or how the role is carried out, and "appearance" including the dress and look of the performer. Additionally, “front” also includes the “setting”, which means the environment of performance. It can be a furniture, physical lay-out or the stage props. Goffman, Erving (2024-04-15), The Presentaiton of Self in Everyday Life, Doubledays, p. 13
- ^ Macionis, John J., and Linda M. Gerber. 2010. Sociology (7th Canadian ed.). Pearson Canada Inc. p. 11.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
- ^ Trevi-O, A. Javier (2003). Goffman's Legacy. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9780742519787.
- ^ "Books of the Century". International Sociological Association. 1998. Archived from the original on 2014-03-15. Retrieved 2012-07-25.
- ^ Smith, Greg (2006). Erving Goffman ([Online-Ausg.] ed.). Hoboken: Routledge. pp. 33, 34. ISBN 978-0-203-00234-6.
- ^ Trevino, James. 2003. Goffman's Legacy. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 35.
- ^ Ritzer, George. 2008. Sociological Theory. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. p. 372.
Often, performers work together in "teams" and form bonds of collegiality based on their common commitment to the performance they are mutually engaged in.
The core of Goffman's analysis lies in this relationship between performance and life. Unlike other writers who have used this metaphor, Goffman seems to take all elements of acting into consideration: an actor performs on a setting which is constructed of a stage and a backstage; the props in both settings direct his action; he is being watched by an audience, but at the same time he may be an audience for his viewers' play.
According to Goffman, the social actor in many areas of life will take on an already established role, with pre-existing front and props as well as the costume he would wear in front of a specific audience. The actor's main goal is to keep coherent and adjust to the different settings offered him. This is done mainly through interaction with other actors. To a certain extent this imagery bridges structure and agency enabling each while saying that structure and agency can limit each other.
Translated titles
Since the metaphor of a theatre is the leading theme of the book, the German and consequently also the Czech translation used a fitting summary as the name of the book We All Play-Act (German: Wir Alle Spielen Theater; Czech: Všichni hrajeme divadlo), apart from the names in other languages that usually translate the title literally. Another translation, which also builds on the leading theatrical theme, rather than the original title, is the Swedish title of the book Jaget och Maskerna (The Self and the Masks). The French title is La Mise en scène de la vie quotidienne (The Staging of Everyday Life). Similarly, in the Polish language the book is known as Człowiek w teatrze życia codziennego (The Human in the Theatre of Everyday Life).
