This week we talked about Erving Goffman’s concept of
dramaturgy. His whole idea of dramaturgy is a metaphor comparing social
relationships to a performance. Yourself as the actor, the stage as the
setting, and your audience as whomever you are presenting yourself to. There
are three major parts to dramaturgy. The first is recognizing that there are
many different plays or dramas. In other words, there are many types of roles
we take on with different kinds of audiences. Second, there are many types of
stages and props. For example, one man could be a father at home, a teacher in
the classroom, and a husband on a date with his wife. All of these dramas
happen in different settings along with unique props to fit each play. A brief
case, grading rubrics, and teaching degree are all props for the teacher role,
while flowers and wine might be props used while in the role of a husband. The
third part of Goffman’s concept of dramaturgy deals with the issue of role
distance. There needs to be a compatible distance between the role and
self-label. The role consists of
behaviors that the audience expects from you given your status. Self-label, on
the other hand, is the identity that is presented to your audience. These need
to be compatible because if there is too big of a gap the audience will not buy
your performance. It will be fake and unbelievable.
My
favorite part of Goffman’s concept is that it gives a lot of power to the
performer. Every individual has the power to control how an audience views him
or her. As actors, we are allowed to switch our roles from one stage to the
next, which is what I find completely fascinating to think about. I enjoy
figuring out who people really are. I like to think I have a good sense of
reading people, but there is always that unknowingness of exactly what another
person is thinking.
I chose the following song called Who Are You When I’m Not
Looking by Blake Shelton to further explain my thoughts. You may thing you know
someone very well, but how do they act when your not around, when they are
performing on a different stage, in a different role? An audience may never
know one’s true identity.
I think you did a good job at explaining how every person have different roles depending on the setting that we are put in. Sometimes we view people of having only one role, and just view them as is. However, if we get to know them we can find out that they are more then that one role. So again, I really your explanation of this.
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