Week 6: Dramaturgy - "Social life as a game"

“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely
players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages …”

- Shakespeare 1623. As You Like It Act 2 Scene 7

I enjoyed this week's topic quite a lot! Particularly because I'm very fond of 'Drama' and acting, as I've performed for the past ten years! I also relate to the quote above.. every time I hear it, I remember performing in my high school's adaption of Shakespeare's 'As You Like It'. 

But more importantly, this topic sparks thoughts in each and every one of us, making us question how we perform and act in day to day interaction. A lot of us might not think about our impressions on other people, and vice versa. Do intentionally give off certain attitudes and, essentially, impressions? Do we think about how our attitudes and behaviours affect others and their opinions of us?

Goffman, and the lecture, basically reflect Shakespeare's notion of social interaction in the real world... He highlights the idea that social interaction occurs exactly like that upon a stage. The world is a stage, and the actors act in response and depending on a time, place and audience. This may not occur all the time and for every individual, but there comes a point where we perform, but it might not be our true selves. Perhaps we've put on a front (or in other words, we're acting), so we can maintain our image and basically "fit in".

I like what Goffman is trying to say, particularly because I can relate to the idea of acting and performing. In other words, Goffman is saying we're not ourselves all of the time. We react based on a social setting and any pressures we might feel in upholding our image. In other words, it's acting and putting on a mask. And I know exactly how that feels. You become someone else, except in this situation.. it's real life, and we act depending on whether we think other's are going to judge us or not. I'm loving Goffman's readings, even though they're way too long!

Week 5: Presentation of Self

Hi guys!

Not entirely sure if I'm doing this correctly, just bear with me. So last week's lecture was on presentation of the self. This week's reading is 'The Nature of Defence and Demeanor' by Erving Goffman, focusing on (you guessed it!) the self. Yourself, myself... You! The reading and the lecture both reflected a strong definition of 'the self', basically stating it as being socially constructed, and shaped through different social processes.

I actually found this week's topic to be quite interesting, exploring the self and the social processes associated with that. Not only that, both the lecture and Goffman describe 'the self' as being much more than just a simple concept... it makes you realise just how complex 'the self' can be! And I think that's what opened my eyes while going through the reading and the lecture. It's a lot more than just about you, it's got to do with your demeanor. But not only that - it's also about how others percieve you! Now I've highlighted that because I think that's what Goffman is trying to get at. It's all about the perspective of others and their perception of you. Though you would like to think that everybody sees you the way you do, they really don't. It kind of opens your eyes.. I mean the way others percieve you might not actually be how you are, but it all depends on how well they know you, how you hold yourself and how you act. Now this is something interesting I thought was brought up to do with 'the self' - upholding your image. Do we tend to do things we may not particularly want to do, just to maintain or improve our image? The thing I liked most was that Goffman actually got me really thinking about 'the self', and others perceptions.