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Table of Contents |
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On Face Work |
Describes the basic tenants of Dramaturgical Perspective. Each participant
in an interaction are said to take a "line", which is a pattern of verbal and
non-verbal conduct which expresses his or her views of the interaction.
"Face" is the positive claim on social value made by an individual and the line
he or she takes. Goffman describes several different aspects of "Face",
including participants who are in face, out of face, or shame faced. He
also relates his ideas to the Chinese concept of "Losing Face".
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The Nature of Deference and Demeanor |
This essay covers rules of conduct and social sanctions as they relate to
expectations and obligations in social interactions. Deference is defined
as a symbolic means of conveying appreciation through rituals of presentation
and avoidance. Demeanor is considered the sum of an individual's personal,
spontaneous expression including dress, diction, poise and emotional
self-control. |
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Embarrasment and Social Organization |
When a participant is unable to keep his or her "line", or finds himself or
herself "out of face", then Embarassment can result. This includes
socially induced embarassment (severe teasing) as well as self-perceived
embarassment. In Goffman's framework, embarassment is an extreme breakdown
of poise and face, resulting in twitching, sweating, and other physiological
signs of distress. |
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Alienation from Interaction |
This essay discusses how interactions can fail, and the long term consequences
of these failures. Participants maintain certain expectations of each
other during an interaction; when one fails to meet these expectations the
others will act to restore the ceremonial order. One basic expectation is
that each participant will remain equally involved in the interaction and aid
other interactants in sustaining the discourse. Goffman describes types of
alienation, which often occur simultaneously. When interactants perceive
alienation internally or in another participant, it will result in a disruption
of the interaction with potential long term consequences on future interactions. |
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Mental Symptoms and Public Order |
A long-time observer and frequent critic of institutional psychiatry, Goffman
lets them have it in this short essay. Freudian psychiatrists responsible for
the old system had considered any socially inappropriate behavior to be a
"symptom" of entrenched pathology in a terminal phase. Goffman points out
that this system ignores or diminishes the social nature of these "symptoms",
which are often easily interpretable by immediate social setting or a failure to
understand interaction rituals. |
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Where the Action Is |
Analyzes risk taking on both psychological and sociological dimensions.
Considers general concepts such as action, nerve, fatefulness and presence of
mind with specific examples from real-world risk taking such as gambling,
bull-fighting, and crime:
"A nervous man wearing a trench coat and dark sunglasses stood at the
check-cashing boot of the Safeway store at 4940 Mission Street last night.
Reaching in his pocket, he pulled ot a .32 caliber blue steel automatic.
Or at least he tried. The gun caught on the pocket, firing a shot into the
baseboard of the cashier's booth. Some 15 customers and ten clerks stared
at the man. He licked his lips nervously. 'This is a holdup', he
blurted to the cashier, 'I want all the money in the safe'. Whereupon he
turned and bolted from the store, with the manager and clerk in hot pursuit."
(p. 223)
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