So this week's topic was Dramaturgy- this is where Goffman believes that we are each a part of a performance and life is one big stage, where 'on stage' you act in a particular way so to be seen in a certain way. Similarly 'off stage' one also acts in a particular way, this is more closely to how one really thinks and feels, but cannot communicate whilst acting a particular role. For example at work someone may be really nice and polite to all customers no matter how rude they are, but as soon the customer leaves they go out the back or to the lunch room and bitch about how horrible that particular customer was. Unlike I think many of my fellow sociological students in this course I at first found this concept hard to follow, however once I have sat down and really looked at it I can see how easy it is to apply to real life, because every day we play different roles when we are with different people and in different situations, but then we come home and can be whoever we are and take care of those things 'backstage' that allow us to put on our 'performances' each day.
In trying to understand Goffman and his metaphor of Dramaturgy I came across a paper by Giddens (On rereading the Presentation of Self: Some Reflections, 2009), and far from making the analogy any clearer it instead may me question the validity of purely thinking of life as performance. Giddens says that the theatre is all about the make believe and is 'meticulously' prepared beforehand, and that in 'real life' things are in fact 'real' and that sometimes the performance is not very well rehearsed. I found this interesting, whilst I agree that we all play different roles throughout our day to day lives. in reality we have no 'rehearsal' before going out and performing these different roles and I believe it is this 'lack of' rehearsal that makes up our frontstage performances.
Friday, 31 August 2012
Wednesday, 29 August 2012
Data Presentation!
Here is a link to the youtube video I shall be analysing for my data presentation(: I'm horrible at technology, so hopefully this works!(:
Wednesday, 22 August 2012
Week 5 post- Goffman
Fitting in with the apparent theme... I also have no idea what i am doing with this whole blog thing and I'm not sure this will even post in the right place... but here goes nothing!
This weeks reading is 'The Nature of Deference and Demeanor' by Goffman and focuses on the individual and how the individual or 'self' comes to be produced in certain interactions through specific social processes.
One way in which a 'self' is established in the social world is, according to Goffman through deference. Deference is the action through which something is symbolically conveyed by way of its appreciation between one individual and a recipient/s, there by affirming the relationship between the individual and the recipient. This affirmation can be through gestures, rituals, or a symbol that the recipient has taken to mean an affirmation of a particular relationship between themselves and the individual. It is the deference between individuals that Goffman is interested in this article.
Demeanor on the other hand is that 'ceremonial behavior' of an individual who expresses who they want to be seen as 'being' through the way in which they dress and present themselves. This 'presentation of self' therefore allows an individual to have a sort of control over the way in which society perceives them to be, through presenting themselves a certain way. This however is also coupled with the interaction of the individual with society as one cannot establish a certain kind of 'self' without others affirming that they perceive that a specific individual possess the certain kinds of attributes that they are displaying.
The relationship between 'Deference' and 'Demeanor' is where the act through which an individual conveys or does not convey deference to other individuals, and as a result of this lack of deference expresses that they are not of good demeanor (or vice versa). For example using patient-doctor relationships, a doctor may have a complain that his patients do not bath before coming in for an examination- where bathing is a kind of deference to the doctor. In this same way not bathing means that the patient is presenting themselves with an unclean, unkempt demeanor.
This weeks reading is 'The Nature of Deference and Demeanor' by Goffman and focuses on the individual and how the individual or 'self' comes to be produced in certain interactions through specific social processes.
One way in which a 'self' is established in the social world is, according to Goffman through deference. Deference is the action through which something is symbolically conveyed by way of its appreciation between one individual and a recipient/s, there by affirming the relationship between the individual and the recipient. This affirmation can be through gestures, rituals, or a symbol that the recipient has taken to mean an affirmation of a particular relationship between themselves and the individual. It is the deference between individuals that Goffman is interested in this article.
Demeanor on the other hand is that 'ceremonial behavior' of an individual who expresses who they want to be seen as 'being' through the way in which they dress and present themselves. This 'presentation of self' therefore allows an individual to have a sort of control over the way in which society perceives them to be, through presenting themselves a certain way. This however is also coupled with the interaction of the individual with society as one cannot establish a certain kind of 'self' without others affirming that they perceive that a specific individual possess the certain kinds of attributes that they are displaying.
The relationship between 'Deference' and 'Demeanor' is where the act through which an individual conveys or does not convey deference to other individuals, and as a result of this lack of deference expresses that they are not of good demeanor (or vice versa). For example using patient-doctor relationships, a doctor may have a complain that his patients do not bath before coming in for an examination- where bathing is a kind of deference to the doctor. In this same way not bathing means that the patient is presenting themselves with an unclean, unkempt demeanor.
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