Erving Goffman (; 11 June 1922 – 19 November 1982) was a Canadian-born American sociologist, social psychologist, and writer, considered by some "the most influential American sociologist of the twentieth century". In 1969, he became a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was elected the 73rd president of the American Sociological Association, serving in 1981–1982, but was unable to deliver the presidential address in person due to progressing illness.

In 1981, Goffman married sociolinguist Gillian Sankoff. The following year, their daughter Alice was born.

Influence and legacy

Goffman was influenced by Herbert Blumer, Émile Durkheim, Sigmund Freud, Everett Hughes, Alfred Radcliffe-Brown, Talcott Parsons, Alfred Schütz, Georg Simmel, and W. Lloyd Warner. Hughes was the "most influential of his teachers" according to Tom Burns. to game theory (the concept of strategic interaction), and to the study of interactions and linguistics.

Goffman introduced the concept of nonperson treatment as a level of social interaction.

Goffman defined "impression management" as a person's attempts to present an acceptable image to those around them, verbally or nonverbally. This definition is based on Goffman's idea that people see themselves as others view them, so they attempt to see themselves as if they are outside looking in.

The first essay, "On Face-work", discusses the concept of face, which is the positive self-image a person holds when interacting with others. Goffman believes that face "as a sociological construct of interaction is neither inherent in nor a permanent aspect of the person". That a frame can assume so many forms is the basis of his analyses, "these framings are subject to a multitude of different transformations − the warrant for a frame analysis in the first place." Essentially, through interaction, we are only looking to be heard, not inspire any kind of action but simply to know that someone listened and understood. This is why often a simple head nod or grunt is accepted as an appropriate response in conversation.

Goffman explains that the way a conversation is keyed is critical to understanding the intent behind many utterances in everyday speech. Key is probably best understood as the tone of the dialogue which can change numerous times during an interaction. Signaling a change in key is one way that framing often takes place, "special brackets will have to be introduced should he want to say something in a relatively serious way: "Kidding aside," "Now, I'm really serious about this," and other such tags become necessary as a means of momentarily down keying the flow of words." Certain things can and will be said in one scenario that would never be uttered in another. An awareness of these social framings is critical, just as is an awareness of the audience. Depending on who you're speaking with (a teacher, a child, a loved one, a friend, a pet, etc.) you will curve your speech to fit the frame of what your intended audience is expecting.

Goffman uses the metaphor of conversation being a stage play. A play's tone will shift throughout the performance due to the actions taken by the actors; this is similar to how a discussion is keyed – based on what either person says or does over the course of an interaction, the key will change accordingly. The parallels go further, though. Goffman also claims that a speaker details a drama more often than they provide information. They invite the listener to empathize and, as was explained above, they are often not meant to be stirred to take action, but rather to show appreciation; during a play this generally takes the form of applause.

Other similarities include engaging in the suspense the speaker is attempting to create. In both scenarios, you must put aside the knowledge that the performers know the outcome of the event being relayed and, in a sense, play along. This is integral to his stance as he explains "the argument that much of talk consists of replayings and that these make no sense unless some form of storyteller's suspense can be maintained shows the close relevance of frame-indeed, the close relevance of dramaturgy-for the organization of talk." Lastly, because the replaying of strips is not extemporaneous, but rather preformulated, it is yet another parallel between a stage production and conversation. All of these things work in concert to provide a foundation of how talk is framed.

Gender Advertisements

In Gender Advertisements, Goffman analyzes how gender is represented in the advertising to which all individuals are commonly exposed. He suggested that women were often portrayed as passive, dependent on men, and somewhat childlike. However, the specific details of his argument remain somewhat ambiguous. Some scholars interpret his work as an analysis of gender representations in advertising, while others believe that advertisements were simply a convenient—though arguably weak—source of data for examining broader social norms and embodied practices. Despite this, his book has gained significance as a foundational text influencing more recent cultural studies approaches to media imagery, particularly those focusing on representations of the body. She also noted that feminist scholars like Jean Kilbourne "[built] their highly persuasive and widely circulated findings on the nature of gender in advertising on Goffman's original categories".

Sources

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Further reading

  • Dirda, Michael (2010). "Waiting for Goffman", Lapham's Quarterly (Vol 3 No 4). ISSN 1935-7494
  • Ditton, Jason (1980). The View of Goffman, New York:St. Martin's Press
  • Algazi, Gadi. "Erving Goffman: A Bibliography," Department of History, Tel Aviv University
  • Brackwood, B. Diane. (1997). "Erving Goffman," Magill's Guide to 20th Century Authors. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press.
  • Cavan, Sherri. "When Erving Goffman Was a Boy: The Formative Years of a Sociological Giant" Symbolic Interaction v37 n1 pp. 41–70 (Feb. 2014)
  • Dear Habermas (weekly journal), "Articles on Goffman," California State University, Dominguez Hills. A listing of further reading and online resources.
  • Delaney, Michael. "Erving Goffman: Professional and Personal Timeline," University of Nevada Las Vegas
  • Teuber, Andreas. "Erving Goffman Biography," Brandeis University
  • "Erving Goffman Archives" University of Nevada Las Vegas
  • On Cooling the Mark Out: Some Aspects of Adaptation to Failure (1952), Erving Goffman
  • Communication conduct in an island community (1953), Erving Goffman