Erving Goffman - the presentation of self in everyday life

In the The Presentation of Self In Everyday Life (1959) Goffman seeks to show the reader how everyone sets out to present themselves to the world around them, always trying to maintain the role they have selected for themselves, since those whom they meet not only try to decide what role it is you are playing, but also whether or not you are competent to play that role. Erving Goffman portrays everyday interactions as strategic encounters in which one is attempting to sell a particular self-image. Here with one will try to analyze two situations that reinforce the desired interpretation of self that one wishes to convey.

The first performance takes place in the university environment on the first day of school. The second scene takes place at the formal wedding reception among family and friends. Both interactions describe the Goffmanian concepts and schemas that the author uses throughout his book. The first situation is portrayed in the university setting. Among a thousand first year students some will undoubtedly know each other beforehand, but on the whole everyone will be on their own and looking to make friends. If a student is walking proudly to his first class trying to impress everyone. But if that student was to make a mistake in his self-presentation now, he could take several weeks to recover his credibility.

The front acts as a vehicle of standardization, allowing for others to understand the individual on the basis of projected character traits that have normative meanings. As a collective representation, the front establishes proper setting, appearance, and manner for the social role assumed by the actor, uniting interactive behavior with the personal front. A student will often act differently when talking to someone in his lecture, than he will be with his friends in the bar later that night -the former providing a sense of intimacy, the latter a more public occasion. Goffman discusses the need for belief in the part you are playing, both in terms of the audience, and in terms of the performer himself. For the performance to appear credible the performer himself should believe the performance is genuine; the alternative is have no belief in the performance, to be what Goffman terms a cynic. If the student genuinely believes he is an easy going guy who doesn't worry about work, he may appear sufficiently credible to overcome any of the apparently contradictory evidence of the impression given off. When there is little or no occasion for dramatizing the performance the student will always appear unconcerned when the subject of work comes up, to show that work isn't a priority in his life. This process, known as dramatic realization, is predicated upon the activities of impression management, the control (or lack of control) and communication of information through the performance. To emphasize this, he may leave files on the floor, or leave books half open to show that work is a something he does when he has time in between partying or talking to friends, and if someone comes round he will show mock concern about going out rather than working, before quickly agreeing to go out, even if he knows he has work to do for the next day, all in order to dramatize the front he his performing, and therefore make the front more credible.

Secondly, the family setting is described as a mother-daughter relationship as team members during a wedding reception. Both mother and daughter co-operate together to avoid any unpleasant surprises. They engage in a discussion with guests but only in a general talk. The dark secrets of the bride have to be well kept from the guests and other family members. Here Goffman explores nature of group dynamics through a discussion of teams and the relationship between performance and audience. He uses the concept of the team to illustrate the work of a group of individuals who co-operate in performance, attempting to achieve goals sanctioned by the group. Co-operation may manifest itself as unanimity in demeanor and behavior or in the assumption of differing roles for each individual, determined by the desired intent in performance. The mother engages in a group talk while the daughter is beside her. The mother comments on her daughter’s looks and the audience responds in the positive way. Therefore, the mother performs as a shill, a member of the team who provides a visible model for the audience of the kind of response the performers are seeking, promoting excitement for the realization of a goal.