My understanding of dramaturgy (after the reading) is that individuals act differently in certain times, places, or to audiences. The sense of self is derived from the scene that is being presented in that certain time or place.
The lecture on Dramaturgy is the first time I have come across the term, and the concept of social life as 'drama'. It is an interesting concept to consider the social life as a 'performance' of interactions between people. The very first sentence of the reading is important in understanding how interactions happen in society according to the concept of dramaturgy - 'When an individual plays a part he implicitly requests his observers to take seriously the impression that is fostered before them' Goffman (1990).
My understanding of this concept is that as an interaction is delivered by an individual, he or she requests their audience to react in a certain way. It is interesting to think about what is happening in society when people are acting out their lives in certain ways, to impress certain people or to conform to 'norms' that are socially created. The way in which the 'performer' acts when interacting with other individuals changes through different social settings and thus the individual is just a part of a larger scale 'game'.
It is interesting to think about what happens when these 'performers' are not involved in any interaction, what is going on behind of this 'stage' in which we all perform? Goffman (1990) explains this as the 'frontstage' or 'backstage'; the backstage involving the interactions in an informal state or even just what we are preparing or thinking about when we are not actually 'interacting' with other individuals (informal dress, sloppiness, joking around). The frontstage is the opposite to this, as individuals play out their 'acts' in reference to the others around them. Goffman (1990) states that the 'front' is 'that part of an individuals performance which functions to define the situation to observers.
An interesting observation of Dramaturgy would be that of going to the pub or going out for a night out with friends. It is interesting to see individuals who you may know well put on 'performances' so they appear to observers in a certain way. As settings or 'stages' usually stay the same, as individuals walk into these settings they play out different acts to define meaning to their observers.
Picture - http://losangeles.bitter-lemons.com/2012/02/14/the-dramaturg-the-devolution-of-the-modern-day-theatre-critic/
Goffman, Erving. 1971. “Performances.” Pp. 28-82 in The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life.
Harmondsworth: Penguin
Harmondsworth: Penguin
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