With this piece, we move squarely to the individual level of social theory. Goffman dissects the meaning and practice of direct interaction, using "dramaturgical" tools - that is, he takes seriously the claim that "All the world is a stage, and we but merely players" (to roughly quote the Bard).
For some good introductions/overviews of his work, see here and here.
Introduction
Here E.G. lays out the basic elements of the argument. In micro-interactions,
every person sends two signals: those they "give" and those they "give
off"
"The expressiveness of the individual appears to involve two radically different kinds of sign activity: the expression that he gives, and the expression that he gives off" (p.2)That which we give is usually the things we say: our verbal signs. That which we "give off" are usually the non-verbal cues, that help to situate and verify the things we say. This book is largely about understanding how these different types of expressiveness are managed, and the types of interaction elements that are important to managing and understanding these types of expressiveness.
Of key importance, then, is that these two types of expression are not always the same. Instead, an individual's activity has a "promissory character" - we take for granted that a person is honest in his/her expression, but we are checking none-the-less for congruence between the two types of cues.
Part of what makes life so interesting (and profitable for the con man) is that we have to 'infer' character/intention from this kind of behavior. An inference that can never be certain (if you read Lumann, we find that this inference is not only difficult, but (a) impossible to get right and (b) thus made through each sub-groups set of unique understanding tools. This makes for a very interesting world).
Life becomes even more interesting when we admit that people try to
control the two types of cues, to play a role and give an impression. (The
example of the man on the beach is key here). Note that both the audience
and the player do this:
"When we allow that the individual projects a definition of the situation when he appears before others, we must also see that the others, however passive their role may seem to be, will themselves effectively projects a definition of the situation by virtue of their response to the individual and by virtue of the lines of action they initiate to him" (p.9)
The expression of a part always carries w. it a moral claim, a claim
to status conferred by the role taken.
"we must not overlook the crucial fact that any projected definition of the situation also has a distinctive moral character.... Society is organized on the principle that any individual who possesses certain social characteristics has a moral right to expect that others will value and treat him in an appropriate way. Connected with this principle is a second, namely that an individual who implicitly or explicitly signifies that he has a certain social characteristic ought in fact to be what he claims to be." (p.13)When people turn out otherwise (really or just by making mistakes in presentation), a good deal social work is needed to fix the stage.
Note that E.G. is not interested in the content of relations per se,
but the general forms of presentation.
"I shall be concerned only with the participants dramaturgical problems of presenting the activity before others. The issues dealt with by stagecraft and stage management are sometimes trivial but they are quite general; they seem to occur everywhere in social life, providing a clear-cut dimension for formal sociological analysis." (p.15)He ends the intro w. some definitions that he will use throughout:
Interaction: "may be roughly defined as the reciprocal influence of individuals upon on another's actions when in one another's immediate physical presence."PerformancesAn Interaction: all the interaction which occurs throughout any one occasion when a given set of individual re in one another's continuous presence, the same as an encounter.
Performance: all the activity of a given participant on a given occasion which serves to influence in any way any of the other participants.
Part or Routine: a pre established pattern of action which is unfolded during a performance and which may be presented or played through on other occasions
Front
The front is likely the most recognized part of this work.
The front is:
"That part of individual's performance which regularly functions in a general and fixed fashion to define the situation for those who observe the performance. Front, then, is the expressive equipment of a standard kind intentionally or unwittingly employed by the individual during his performance." (p.22).These are the standard elements of social performance, used again and again by actors in their interactions with others.
There are multiple parts to a front:
Setting
Setting is something that, largely, stays put. There are other elements that move with us, such as race, sex, age, etc. These can be broken down into two types:
- Scenery, props, location. The front incorporates the things we bring with us, or those things around us. Such as the decor in our house, our offices, etc.
- Each of these items help shape what others see in our performance. THus, a king needs the stateliness of court, a beggar would not do well driving a jaguar. Doctors need white coats and lab space.
Appearance
The key to fronts is that they are generalizable and transferable (see Sewell's discussion of Structure) we can use the same front multiple times.
"For the observer this is a wonderful, though sometimes disastrous, convenience. Instead of having to maintain a different pattern of expectation and response treatment for each slightly different performer and performance, he can place the situation in a broad category around which it is easy for him to mobilize his past experience and stereo-typical thinking."BUT,
Dramatic Realization
People have to put their performances into action, which can
be tricky. Especially if there is a less-than-perfect fit between a stock
performance and a given situation. Some types fit easily (policemen, prizefighters,
etc.), allowing "so much dramatic self-expression that exemplary practitioners
become famous and given a special place in the commercially organized fantasies
of the nation." (p.31) In many cases, however, it is difficult to
make the importance/position of the role known. He uses the example of
a medical nurse as opposed to a surgical nurse. A surgical nurse's
activities are clear, whereas a medical nurse's are not.
Idealization
Performers tend to offer their audience impressions that are idealized
in several different ways:
"By virtue of [the ability to read cues], the audience my misunderstand the meaning that a cue was designed to convey, or may read an embarrassing meaning into gestures or events that were accidental... In response to these communication contingencies, performers commonly attempt to exert a kind of synecdochic responsibility, making sure that as many as possible of the minor events in the performance, however instrumentally inconsequential theses events may be, will occur in such a way as to convey either no impression or an impression that is compatible and consistent with the overall definition of the situation that is being fostered." (p.51)
This is particularly true when the audience is skeptical: think of how quickly a job-talk audience will pounce on minor flaws in an argument.MisrepresentationHe provides 3 rough groupings of these events:
"The expressive coherence that is required in performances points out a crucial discrepancy between our all-too-human selves and our socialized selves. As human beings we are presumably creatures of variable impulse with moods and energies that change from one moment to the next. As characters put on for an audience, however, we must not be subjects to ups or downs. A certain bureaucratization of the spirit is expected so that we can be relied upon to give a perfectly homogenous performance at every appointed time" (p.56)
- a performer may accidentally convey incapacity , impropriety, or disrespect by momentarily loosing muscular control of himself. I.e. belch, yawn, etc.
- May act in a way that suggests he is too much or too little engaged in the interaction. E.G. says things like stutter, forget a line, appear nervous or self-conscious. You might also add less accidental things, such as answering email while you have someone in your office, for example, or not dealing with a child's pain because you need to finish a story w. a friend.
- May suffer from 'inadequate dramaturgical directly" The setting not put into order, may be ready for the wrong performance, uncomfortable lulls, etc.
(this is something you will experience directly teaching!)
When we discover a fraud, we are really discovering someone who does not have the right to play the part they play. But this is a complicated thing to do, since there are many dimensions upon which 'fraud' may be played, and it is not always 'bad ' - think of the undercover cop, for example. Moreover, the standards are not always clear (it is easy to find a fraudulent police man, but what counts as a true 'friend'?).
An open or bald-faced lie is one where the discrepancy between between truth and statement is unquestionable. While such lies often lead to loss of face, there are many situations where it is possible to "for the performer to create intentionally almost any kind of false impression without putting himself in the indefensible position of having told a clear-cut lie. Communication techniques such as innuendo, strategic ambiguity and crucial omissions allow the misinformer to profit from lies without, technically, telling any." (p.62)
Moreover, there are few legitimate roles that do not have some level of "concealed practices which are incompatible with foster impressions" (p.64) I.e. you don't tell your spouse everything, such as your opinion about their relatives.
However, "we must note that a false impression maintained by an individual in any one of his routines may be a threat to the whole relationship or role of which the routines is only one part, for a discreditable disclosure in one area of an individual's activity will through doubt on the many areas of activity in which he may have nothing to conceal." (p.65) THink only of Clinton...
Misrepresentation is an almost necessary part of performances.
"All of these general characteristics of performances can be seen as interaction constraints which play upon the individual and transform his activities into performances. Instead of merely doing his task and given vent to his feelings, he will express the doing of his task and acceptably convey his feelings. In general, then, the representation of an activity will vary in some degree from the activity itself, and therefore inevitably misrepresent it. And since the individual will be required to rely on signs in order to construct a representation of his activity, the image he constructs, however faithful to the facts, will be subject to all the disruptions that impressions are subject to." (p.65)For sociology, the key is not, then, truth or falsity, but the extent to which a performance can be discredited.
"Whether an honest performer wishes to convey the truth or whether a dishonest performer wishes to convey a falsehood, both must take care to enliven their performances with appropriate expressions, exclude from their performances expressions that might deiscredit he impression being fostered, and take care lest the audience impute unintended meanings." (p.67)Mystification
"We have then, a basic social coin. With awe on one side and shame on the other. The audience senses secret mysteries and powers behind the performance, and the performer senses that his chief secrets are petty ones. As countless folk tales and initiation rites show, often the real secret behind the mystery is that there really is no mysteries; the real problem is to prevent the audience from learning this too." (p.70)Reality and Contrivance
The implication here is that an honest, sincere, serious performance
is less firmly connected with the solid world than one might first assume:
it is still a performance, and the distance between "contrivance" and "reality"
may be far less than we want to admit.
Teams
Here E.G. focuses on how groups of people, "Teams" manage impressions
through co-operation. This is based on the consensus of the group, which
often involves a discrepancy between what we show others and the groups
internal differences.
A team is
"a set of individuals whose intimate co-operation is required if a given projected definition of the situation is to be maintained. A team is a groups, but it is a grouping not in relation to a social structure or social organization but rather in relation to an interaction or series of interactions in which the relevant definition of the situation is maintained." (p.104)A team is something of a secret society, in that members are 'in the know' and are conspirators in putting on the show for the audience.
In most teams, people develop roles - parts they play in the team's presentation.
Note that many times, the front people put on are as much (if not more) for the organization/product they are working for than for themselves personally: i.e. a receptionist
Under some circumstances, the team may perform for an audience that
isn't there. See the discussion around p. 82
Two basic components for team performance:
(From Jarvis:)
- Any member has the power to give the show away or disrupt it by inappropriate conduct
- They will not be able to keep up particular fronts with each other: that is, they are all "in the know"
Unifiers may in reality thin and partial but projected as strong. When " before an audience" actors individual actors feel pressure to stick to the required team front. There may be private (behind the scenes) dissent about values, individual performances and threats to team goals. The individual's "team" front masks their position as deviant behavior before an audience would undermine overall team performance and credibility.Team members play different roles, and often a director has to:
Team members also differ w. respect to the amount of time they spend on mere activity and mere drama -- the doing of the activity and the performance of the activity. At the extreme, we have people w. purely ceremonial roles.
Regions and Region Behavior
For Goffman, the "region" or setting for the team performance and audience
can differentiate individual behavior and actions. In a stage drama,
regions can
be:
There are different types of secrets:
Note that there are 3 basic roles in Goffman's scheme, each w. different types of information
In addition, there are those who are "not present during a performance
but who have unexpected information about it." (p.153)
Communication Out of Character
Sometimes performers slip: they say things they shouldn't, what we
often mark by "My God!" and such statements, admitting that we have stepped
"out of character" (note the example of the general in the jeep).
While open mistakes do occur, they are rare. Instead, there are "undercurrents"
that, if made explicit, would contradict the overall exposition.
"When a social establishment is studied, these discrepant sentiments are almost always found. The demonstrate that while a performer may act as if his response in a situation were immediate, unthinking and spontaneous, and while he himself may think this to be the case, still it will always be possible for situation to arise win which he will convey to one or two persons present the understanding that he show he is maintaining g is only and merely a show." (p.,169)There are many types of these communications. E.G. gives us detailed treatment of 4:
1. Treatment of the Absent
a) Derogatory treatment of the audience, when not
performing. Speaking bad about the audience when you go back-stage,
nicknames, etc.
Note that this type of thing is looked down on by management, as it invariable seeps into the face-to-face contact of performance. See work on Total Quality Management, for example.
2. Staging Talk
Discussing how to stage the performance.
Also discussions of what the other team members are doing (gossip).
The "talk about the talk"
3. Team Collusion
Whispers with other team members give away the game:
i.e. that it is a game. Also secret team signals, and "staging cues."
The most often seen type if between a performer and himself: school kids
crossing their fingers when they tell a lie.
4. Realigning Actions
Movements around, or over, or away from the line between teams. Such as unofficial grumbling, guarded disclosure, and double-talk.
In general,
"whatever it is that generates the human want for social contact and for companionship, the effect seems to take two forms: a need for an audience before which to try out one's vaunted selves, and a need for teammates with whom to enter into collusive intimacies and backstage relaxation." (p.206)The Arts of Impression Management
Conclusion
The Framework
The Analytic Context
We have
Personality-Interaction-Society
Comparisons and Study
The Role of Expression in Conveying Impressions of the Self
Staging and the Self