Communication Theory for Humans by Neil O’Boyle

Author:Neil O’Boyle
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783031024504
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

The Dramaturgical Perspective

Goffman suggests that in every human face-to-face interaction, participants will shift between the roles of performer and audience (Benford and Hare 2015). That said, he suggests that in any given interaction participants will quickly and quite unconsciously establish a shared definition of the situation, or what he calls a ‘working consensus’ (1990[1959]: 21)—that is, an unspoken agreement as to what the interaction is about, how formal or informal it is, and who is playing what role. For example, when two friends are discussing their respective dating lives there will normally be lots of conversational turn-taking, interruption, questioning, teasing, and laughter (and possibly even tears!)—a ‘working consensus’ that will differ considerably from that of a formal job interview, in which the roles of interviewer and interviewee will be rigidly defined and conversational topics highly limited. As noted above, Goffman suggests that when we are interacting with others, we will attempt to create a favourable impression of ourselves and comport ourselves in ways that conform with their expectations. However, this is much easier said than done, and he distinguishes between expressions ‘given’ (our intentional behaviour) and expressions ‘given off’ (unintentional behaviour) (1990[1959]: 16). For instance, an interviewer might nod her head earnestly while listening to an interviewee describe his work experience (an expression ‘given’) but every so often her eyes might drift to her watch or the clock on the wall (an expression ‘given off’), suggesting that she in fact wishes to hurry things along. Goffman was mainly interested in the latter—that is, the ‘ungovernable aspects’ of our ‘expressive behaviour’ (1990[1959]: 18).

To more easily explain the dramaturgical perspective, we will examine it under four headings: front, performances, teamwork, and regions. However, the key idea for readers to keep in mind is that impression management is not easy and requires that one ‘perform’ consistently and convincingly. As Goffman puts it, ‘A status, a position, a social place is not a material thing, to be possessed and then displayed; it is a pattern of appropriate conduct, coherent, embellished, and well articulated. Performed with ease or clumsiness, awareness or not, guile or good faith, it is none the less something that must be realized’ (1990[1959]: 81, my emphasis).

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