Management Psychology: Dramaturgical Theory by Erving Goffman - Assignment Example

? Management Psychology Enter and Roll Number or College April 15 Introduction Acting is there in everyone, we all are actors in our life playing a key role in the lives of each other. We are acting all the time. We behave and act the way other want us to be. How to hide our feelings, emotions, what behavior would punish us and what would reward us. This world is a stage and we all are the actors, playing and performing our characters and entering and leaving (Barton, 2009, pp. 1-38). This approach analyses the people who are always there, you see and meet in your everyday life, seeing these people as “social actors” identifies what dramaturgical theories say (Boundless, 2013). One of the main focuses of Goffman was the presentation of self in front of the world. Our self has a lot of daily roles, played all the time. Goffman states that the self lies in the social context, the way people want to see us (Dramaturgy and the Presentation of Self, 2013). The dramaturgical terms were first explained by Erving Goffman. He used this term in order to address the performers, the spectators and the stage itself and analyzed their social intricacies in the various aspects of life. To summon it u, he concluded that the human nature does not restrict itself to one characteristic, instead, a person divulges himself according to the situations in order to impress his audience (Sociology, 2013). Goffman found out that theatre was extremely close to ones daily life, the way we act on-stage, what we do off-stage being out if the character and what we do back stage are totally similar to a human being acting all the time in these similar ways (Dramaturgy and the Presentation of Self, 2013). 1.1 Dramaturgical Theory: Dramaturgy is a way of understanding the other performer which encounters this world as a huge stage and everyone comes and goes performing his character. All the people are in their masks showing off what they are not (Slide Share. 2013). Dramaturgical analysis is a theory which was first developed by Goffman. Taking the same road other sociologists try to define and characterize human being’s behavior in specific conditions by comparing us to the actors on stage and theatres. Dramaturgy makes us realize when and how we act; worrying about our audience that how would they rate you if they see you behind the scene (Tripod, 2013). The presentation of the performer , his appearance, background, expressions, control, all deal fairly his character making it look real and true (Slide Share. 2013). The presentation of the performer demands control of impressions and expressions and each performer knows how to play his part (Bouckaert, 2009). Goffman was more interested in the social actors, how they manage a lot of roles at the same time and win the hearts of their audience. A woman, mother, chef, daughter, sister, wife, manager, sweeper, queen, assistant all are the roles played by a single actor (Dramaturgy and the Presentation of Self, 2013). 1.2 Role and Self Involvement: The performer and the spectator both separate one episode from another in an arbitrary frame. This frame is termed as illusion which means to focus upon a meaningful event for the level of reality. The frame defines the level of seriousness of the event. Below are the levels of reality also accepted widely in theatres. Pretending the reality if games, ceremonies, and sports. Alternative reality of the occupational world. Overriding reality in defending a particular situation (Blumberg, 1988, pp. 3-14). Different levels of acting are also defined. Non-involvement Casual acting Ritual acting Engrossed acting Hypnotic acting Histrionic phobia Ecstasy Bewitchment These types are all the time with the actor, consciously or unconsciously he has these things to his self or personality and these are the ongoing connections between his consciousness and unconsciousness (Blumberg, 1988, pp. 3-14). Some actors perform just like a performance and the other moment it’s all over but there are a few categories that actors adopt the character even when it’s over. David Suchet, a British actor after doing a long stage play Timon of Athens found it extremely difficult to go back to what he was. He was then visited backstage by a friend psychologist and it was too hard for him to go back to being Suchet (Soto-morettini, 2010). The expression dramaturgy has the greatest usage and explanation in Goffman’s book namely, Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. It was published in the year 1959. Burke already derived some features of drama under the sway of Shakespeare. If we observe and examine our daily life everyone is performing his responsibility and can be compared to dramaturgy. Another important thing Goffman insisted on was the preservation of self impression. The impression of one matter a lot, sometimes it happens that by mistake one says or acts the way he shouldn’t behave in front of his impressed audience, he would quickly try to recover it and cope with it. This is how life goes. The celebrities who are famous (especially the ones televised) are being followed everywhere. The politicians seem to hang out with them too much so that the influence and perception of the people could change. That makes these politicians “scripted actors”. The best example of this is Ronald Reagen who became a successful politician being a scripted actor (Louw, 2010, pp. 109-127) Goffman believes that a person switches from the front stage to the back stage depending upon the time, space, situation and the scenario (Dramaturgy and the Presentation of Self, 2013). 1.3 The people on the Grand stage: The theory thoroughly explains that the actions by people are purely dependent upon the time, space and place. Goffman states that the term explains the roles of the actor based on the culture, his value, the norms and the traditions. This role is accepted by the audience after a good and a careful performance and if it goes successful then he would portray himself whatever way he wants to (Wikipedia, 2013). The way this world is the theatre, the way it has been segmented too. There is a front view, back view where individuals become who they really are. The main concepts of Goffman’s Dramaturgy are as follows. 1.3.1 Performance: The activity, the behavior in front of the audience giving a vital meaning to the person himself and the audience according to the changing situations. 1.3.2 Setting: The setting is the surroundings and everything includes in it. Different settings attract different audiences with the same performer. 1.3.3 Appearance: The appearance plays a significant role in maintaining the social status and the group of spectators. 1.3.4 Manner: It’s the expression the performer carries. Good expressions according to the situation and the props are essential. 1.3.5 Front: The front defines the situation of the performer to the audience. 1.3.6 Front Stage, Back Stage, Off Stage: According to Goffman these three regions carry its own significance and changes the way the performer was. The front stage is the one in which he is performing in front of the audience which is meaningful for the audience. The performer knows this well that his every movement is being watched and focused constantly by the audience. Backstage is a totally new world. This is the performer’s personal world. Here he becomes who he really is. Offstage is where the performer meets the individuals apart from the stage (About.com. 2013). 2: Analysis We all have certain goals and ambitions in our lives and to achieve them we need to have a good impression over others. Here comes the performing or acting part. We act the way we think would impress our audience according to the type, situation and category. Let us categorize ourselves with the theatrical performances as each and every prop holds importance and meaning. 2.1 Role: The role in dramaturgical analysis can be interpreted as the behaviors and actions adopted by the actor in a specific situation. Our roles are a part of our life but these roles change and are vary according to the situation and the audience. For example a doctor is a human being at home when he is being himself but a focused, quick and an intense person when it comes to his job. 2.2 Main Characters: The main characters of our lives are the people around us who could bring something on focus. They have the leading role in their lives and play an important and significant part. For example, a sales person of a company is the main character to the customers out there. People pay nonetheless attention to him as he passes valuable comments and information and people do focus on them no matter whatever the situation is. 2.3 Back-up Performers: The fillers in a performance, back-up characters are just there. They are not important to the situation but are an asset to themselves. For example the students in a class are the back-up characters as the main character i.e. the teacher is of utmost importance yet the student just fills his seat with a limited input. Still their importance cannot be neglected as they make up a scene complete. 2.4 Costumes: Costumes, the most important part in the actor’s life, determine the intensity of the situation. For a job interview one would not be wearing jeans and t-shirt, instead the acting needs a good suiting in order to impress the client that this could be the suitable candidate for the job. At that time our behavior, accent, language, selection of words, focus to each and every self detail matters. Costumes are the first impression of a person and thus add more onto the actors performance. 2.5 Props: The setting helpful for the performance of the actor is the props. It keeps the story and performance. Without a bag, chair, desk, board the classroom would not be a classroom. 2.6 Script: The verbal exchange by the people either documented or unintentional, all takes a good part in an actor’s acting. The scripted ones could be “Hello Sir! Welcome to our restaurant. What would you like to have for the lunch?” a waiter in a restaurant. To think about a script what we know is that one should say whatever character he has adopted to reach the desired goals. 2.7 Front Stage and Back Stage: These are analyzed by the dramaturgy as the places where the actors play their real part. Back stage, the place where we play our part without any audience. The front stage behavior in a class is to pay attention, take notes, and ask questions but the back stage of the student, resting on a sofa with chips and drinks while watching TV or a movie not thinking about school at all. Working as a professional we are all nice and happy to go with any work assigned, even the colleagues are really nice to us and so are we. Back stage as the home, we hate our boss, our colleagues, the work assigned to us we hate it; we want to kick our colleagues and slap our boss. In the front stage our reputation, face expressions (when we ignore our flaws or something that is embarrassing) presentation and credibility rely on our acting, how well we perform, behave ads in to our impression that we have created in front of the audience (Tripod, 2013). While analyzing a story the actions and the decisions taken by the individuals can be well analyzed according to the given situation and timing (Shearer, 2004, pp. 823-835). The impression management according to Luzerne in dramaturgical analysis is to present the self in a favorable light, and manage and maintain the environment accordingly (2013). The professional actors are real actors. They would be rehearsing for hours on stage and when they are in the back stage, in being them, the character is still there roaming and constantly revolving around his mind and eventually he falls for the scripted character in the story. (Shapiro, 1999, pp. 60-68) Actors are the decision makers whether to portray inner-self or the outer-self depending upon the experiences but the actors usually working inside-out or portraying inner-self have powerful emotions and an extremely good grip (Two aspirins and a Comedy, 2013). Every performer (to some acceptance) has the acceptance to what he is playing; somewhere it is related either to the inner-self or the outer-self (Kivisto, Pittman, 2007 pp. 271-291). The goal of the presentation of self is the acceptance of the audience by manipulating oneself. This is given a positive aspect by the micro-level sociologists. The most common examples of our acting in daily life are listed below. While a supervisor is watching, workers start to behave that they are very busy A student appears to be writing too much as if he has so much in his mind to write when the examiner or invigilator is watching. You need to look very intelligent and serious in class while you want look relaxed and care-free in a party or a gathering (Yahooanswers, 2013). 3: Conclusion In a broader perspective, the presentation of self varies from different situations one faces. The academia, behavior, attitude, expression all varies from one situation to the other. The politics, leaders, society, ethics, transformations, scandals all are a part of our life and one acts accordingly to the given situations and scenarios (Slide Share, 2013). This world is a huge stage. We all come, play our part and then leave, this is how life goes. Adaptation is the actor’s ability, changing and molding himself into the given situation should be what the priority of an actor (Shearer, 2004, 823-835). All the theatrical performances and the life of an actor are the true portrayal of a human being. It teaches us that the life of humans is never constant, it changes with the aspects of where we are and who are we with (Tripod, 2013). Goffman’s theory is the direct example of the symbolism of the theatrical world and the common world in which we live. It is built upon the concepts, actions, rituals and the frame which we mark “important”. 4: References About.com. 2013, Sociology. [Online] Available at: http://sociology.about.com/od/Works/a/Presentation-Of-Self-Everyday-Life.htm [Accessed April 11, 2013]. Barton.R. 2009, Acting: Onstage and Off. 5th edition, USA: Cengage Learning Blumberg.  H. 1988, Dramaturgical Analysis of Social Interaction. NY: Praeger. Bouckaert. C. 2009, Reading Erving Goffman: The presentation of self in everyday life. [Online] Available at: http://www.apass.be/as.php?cwPage=browse%2Fuserpage&cwUser=117&cwContent=403 [Accessed April 15, 2013]. Boundless. 2013, Levels of Analysis: Mirco and Macro. [Online] Available at: https://www.boundless.com/sociology/understanding-sociology/sociological-approach/levels-analysis-mirco-and-macro/ [Accessed April 12, 2013] Dramaturgy and the Presentation of Self, 2013, Erving Goffman. [Online] Available at: http://home.southernct.edu/~blochj1/goff1.html [Accessed April 11, 2013]. Kivisto.P., Pittman. D. 2007, Goffman’s Dramaturgical Sociology. : Sage Publications.  Louw.E. 2010, The Media and Political Process. UK: Sage Publications. Luzerne. 2013, Dramaturgical Analysis. [Online] Available at: http://academic.luzerne.edu/wcamp/soc215fa/slides/ch05.htm [Accessed April 15, 2013]. Shapiro.B. 1999, Reinventing Drama: Acting, Iconicity, Performance. USA: Greenwood Press Shearer.A. 2004, ApplyingBurke’s Dramatic Pentad to scenarios. USA: Elsevier Ltd. Slide Share. 2013, Dramaturgical Approach. [Online] Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/nadiamireles/erving-goffman-dramaturgical-approach-presentation [Accessed April 10, 2013]. Sociology. 2013, Dramaturgical Perspective. [Online] Available at: http://sociology.about.com/od/D_Index/g/Dramaturgical-Perspective.htm [Accessed April 13, 2013].  Soto-morettini . D., 2010, Philosophical Actor: A Practical Meditation for Practicing Theatre Artists. UK: Intellect Limited. Tripod. 2013, Sociology : Dramaturgical Analysis of Social Interaction. [Online] Available at: http://jrdougan.tripod.com/ [Accessed April 13, 2013]. Two aspirins and a Comedy, 2013, Acting. [Online] Available at: http://twoaspirinsandacomedy.com/extras/Ch7-Acting.html [Accessed April 12, 2013]. Yahooanswers. 2013, How is dramaturgical theory shown in our society?. [Online] Available at: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061213023903AAeWn0M [Accessed April 12, 2013]. Read More