Erving Goffman's Dramaturgy

Background Sources

(1 - Description)

Dramaturgy is a sociological model developed by Canadian-American sociologist, Erving Goffman. It uses the metaphor of theater to explain human actions in terms of social communications (1959). Impression management deals with the managing of emotions amongst other traits to create an ideal presentation. Furthermore, Goffman saw interactions as taking place on two stages – the backstage and the frontstage. The backstage being what one keeps behind closed doors, and the frontstage being the professional face that is presented to an audience. With that, Goffman had a focus of study in framing and face presentation. Goffman in The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1959), describes social rituals as causing

Prior research has been done on the relations. For instance, according to Brian Hogan, in his article, “The Presentation of Self in the Age of Social Media: Distinguishing Performances and Exhibitions Online” a virtual “curator” manages their own digital content (2010). What one desires to be seen, is what is seen online. Hogan then goes on to write about the work of literary theorist, Walter Benjamin. In The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Benjamin (1967) writes of the functions of art, and the fact that reproductions lack the original substance of the authentic piece. This idea of Benjamin’s relates to social media and media in general, for digital traces are left behind by individuals as they live their lives (Hogan, 2010). Even so, these traces are artificial crumbs, that were for the most past, created by a person through digital curation, and they simply lack genuine

I sense that those that frequently use filters may have a lower sense of self-esteem, for they more than likely feel that they need a filter to look nice and presentable in a picture. Furthermore, I desire to look into whether or not makeup plays a role in quite literally maintaining one’s online frontstage face. In the case of females, stereotypes often come into play – especially when one considers selfie culture. Selfies are a form of self-embracement, but eventually individuals (usually females) are labelled as being conceited if they post too many on social media. With that, I also feel that examining how online criticism impacts peoples’ self-esteem will be beneficial to seeing how much Dramaturgical Theory comes into play. For instance, Jurgita Sriubaitė, a professor at the Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences describes that a person’s frontstage face can be threatened, but it is maintained when the one giving the criticism says something positive, then giving the criticism while still showing respect