All the world is a stage..
Goffman came up with some interesting concepts, particularly the idea about social life as a drama. He believed that our social interactions with people can be compared to an actor performing on stage for an audience. This is explained further in Life as Theatre: A Dramaturgical Sourcebook, where the authors' point out that the self is perceived as social and dramatic because a person's sense of individuality is situationally specific. Different situations occasion the creation of different selves. And our different 'selves,' are akin to characters in a play.
Thus, social life as a drama means that there is a front stage and back stage. The front stage is where performances are conducted- where you are trying to please people. And the backstage is where people prepare for the performance- where they are themselves. In other words, we put on a mask and get into character and perform in a certain way in front stage and backstage settings.
It is all about impression management and space-where spaces are provided to conduct the performances and spaces to maintain ourselves to handle the performances.
For example, I work at a function centre/ restaurant. Goffman's front stage can be applied to when I am on the floor taking my table's order and serving them. My 'self' changes, as I have adapted to my workplace setting and (according to Goffman) working in a dramatised way. I am over friendly and polite. The back stage can be applied to when I am in the kitchen- where the customers can not see me. I might change my self and say something negative about them 'backstage', for instance, when I am at a wedding function and the guests are intoxicated and smashing glasses everywhere.
People can constitute stages, front and back, by the the way they behave in them in certain ways. They will always try to cultivate a good impression and leave the performance with a good face. (I agree- this is what I want when I'm working) However, what Goffman found problematic with front stage and back stage is that there is no end. If a person tries to make something appear backstage, there will always be another stage after it.
In conclusion, a person achieves their 'self' on the basis of their performance of the situation.
References-
Goffman, E. 1971, 'Performances,' The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, Harmondsworth: Penguin, pp:28-82.
Brisett, D and Edgley, C. 2009, Life as Theatre: A Dramaturgical Sourcebook, Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Image- http://dramaturgie-la.blogspot.com/2011/06/moscow-art-theatre.html
Brisett, D and Edgley, C. 2009, Life as Theatre: A Dramaturgical Sourcebook, Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Image- http://dramaturgie-la.blogspot.com/2011/06/moscow-art-theatre.html
The basic ideas around the reading on dramaturgy by Goffman, is that our whole lives are performances and we adapt to our surrounding (or setting) and perform based on this. This ‘setting’ can include where we are, who we are with and what we are doing. After reading Jess’ blog post and what she said about her work environment, it made me think of my own in a different way. I work at a club, where I serve a whole range of people. Working mainly in the bar, serving customers is my main responsibility. I thought about the idea of performances in the way that we change our behavior based on our audience. In this case, I am the ‘performer’ and the customers the ‘audience’. I wasn’t aware of how my persona changes until after doing the reading. I change, or adapt my behavior and interactions with the customers based on a variety of things. These include the age, gender and whether or not they are a regular customer. Working in the hospitality industry is all about customer satisfaction, and putting on a smiling face and greeting them in a friendly manner is the aim of the game, even though sometimes you really, really don’t want to! But you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that if the customer is younger I tend to be less formal, a simple “what are you drinking?” does the trick, where with older customers I become more formal, usually saying something along the lines of “how can I help you?”. After thinking about this, I spoke to a few of my co-workers who all agreed, they do the same thing too. When serving a man or a woman we all seem to change to and our approach to them differs. I believe this to be one of many example of Goffman’s ideas about performance and dramaturgy. In the words of Goffman (of that he is a man of many!)
“everyone is always and everywhere, more or less consciously, playing a role” (p.30)
Seems like he’s on to something there..