1. DRAMATURGY
Contemporary Sociological Theory
Danielle Dirks, Ph.D.

2. OBJECTIVES
Introduce Dramaturgy
Explore Goffman’s contributions to
understanding social interactions

3. Sociology
of
Knowledge
Symbolic Phenomenological
Interactionism Sociology
Labeling Existential Ethno-
Dramaturgy
Theory Sociology methodology

4. ORIGINS
“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women are merely players.”
William Shakespeare, As You Like It

5. DEFINITION
View that social life is a theatrical
performance...
We are all actors on metaphorical stages,
with roles, costumes, props, scripts,
and sets

6. QUESTIONS
How do we maintain the social order?
How do individuals define situations?

7. GOALS
Focus on
Face-to-face interactions
Routines and rituals
Emotions

8. FACE-TO-FACE
“Reciprocal influence of individuals upon
another’s actions when in one another’s
immediate physical presence”
Goffman (1959): 15

9. TENETS
1) All actions are social in nature
2) All social actions are performances
3) All performances are managed

10. THEORISTS
Erving Goffman

11. AN SI SCHOLAR?
Erving Goffman

12. GOFFMAN’S BOOKS
Several, but best known:
1 Presentation of Self (1959)
2 Asylums (1961)
3 Stigma (1963)
4 Interaction Ritual (1967)
5 Gender Advertisements (1976)
6 Frame Analysis (1974)

13. OUR FOCUS
Performances
Regions + Behavior

14. OUR FOCUS
For your in-class presentations:
Performances
Teams
Regions + Behavior
Discrepant Roles
Communication Out of Character

15. Life is a Series of Performances

16. PERFORMANCES
Cynical Performers
Sincere Performers

17. How is this a performance?

18. How is this a performance?

19. PERFORMANCES
Appearance
Manner

20. PERFORMANCES
Actors
Stages
Roles
Costumes
Props
Scripts
Sets

21. Defining the Situation

22. Expressions We Give v. Expressions We Give Off

23. Modes of Expression: Symmetry v. Asymmetry

24. MOTIVATIONS?
1) Achieve personal goals
2) Present positive view of ourselves to world
3) Conform to social norms

25. How do we manage shame?

26. ON SHAME
“There is no interaction in which
the participants do not take an
appreciable chance of being slightly
embarrassed or a slight chance of
being deeply humiliated. Life may
not be much of a gamble, but
interaction is.”
Goffman in Presentation of Self (1956):156

27. Is social life manipulative or moral?

28. OUR FOCUS
Performances
Regions + Behavior

29. REGIONS
Front Stage
Back Stage

30. Front Stage: Situations in which
we perform for audiences

31. Back Stage: Situations in which we are able to contradict
the “truth of the performance”

32. On Stage
“Off the Record”

33. Do the front stage and back stage ever overlap?
“IFH Mondays”: Is this still the front stage though?

34. OUR FOCUS
For your in-class presentations:
Performances
Teams
Regions + Behavior
Discrepant Roles
Communication Out of Character

35. Team: How do sets of individuals
help define situations together?

36. Discrepant Roles: Are individuals part of the
performance, team and/or audience?

37. Communication Out of Character:
Are our performances always perfect?

38. CRITICISMS
How accurate are our observations?
Gouldner: Too micro
Psathas & Schegloff: Too unsystematic

39. CRITICISMS
“All the world is not a stage--
certainly the theatre isn’t entirely.
(Whether you organize a theatre
or an aircraft factory, you need to
find places for cars to park and
coats to be checked, and these had
better be real places, which,
incidentally, had better carry real
insurance against theft.”
Goffman in Frame Analysis (1974):1

40. DISCUSSION
How could you use dramaturgy in your own
research projects?

41. QUESTIONS?

42. Thank You!

43. Thank You!
Danielle Dirks, Ph.D.
Department of Sociology
Occidental College
dirks@oxy.edu
danielledirks.com
@danielledirks